DayShan Thomas found dead in El Cajon

“It’s time for the city to take a hard look at and update its police practices for modern times,” said Mayor Todd Gloria on April 9, 2021. He declared his intention to make “common sense changes” to “do away with antiquated police practices.” 

Gloria’s wish list included eliminating civil gang injunctions, and removing the Office of Homeland Security from the San Diego Police Department.

Just two weeks later, the mayor announced that he had succeeded in eliminating all civil gang injunctions. “Gang injunctions are outdated and do not serve their alleged purpose of protecting public safety,” Gloria declared. The mayor said he worked with the local district attorney and city attorney to “finally remove” all gang injunctions.

From SDPOA

There were 20 different gang injunctions in place at the time, with 349 individuals named. Todd Gloria bragged that he had been working since 2019 to remove names from that list, he said they were “Individuals who no longer posed a public safety threat.”

San Diego city councilwoman Monica Montgomery Steppe stated her approval at that time, “Eliminating gang injunctions is a necessary step on the long road to reimagining public safety and equity in law enforcement,” she declared in April 2021.  “There are no similar injunctions for white supremacists or hate groups.  Therefore we can clearly see how gang injunctions unfairly target, harm, and potentially ruin the lives of innocent members of our Black and brown communities.”

Shane Harris posted on TwitterX that he and his family want the criminals responsible to be arrested and put behind bars.

In March 2022, police released crime stats showing that crime increased by 13 percent during 2021. Some categories that went up: murder, rape, aggravated assault, burglary, theft, and vehicle theft.

The FBI released crime statistics for San Diego in October 2022, dating from mid-year 2021 to mid-year 2022. Total violent crimes went up, from 6,073 in 2021 to 6,182 in 2022. Robberies went up from 1,176 robberies in 2021 to 1,355 in year 2022.

In late September, 2022, it was announced that San Diego received $3.65 million to prevent gang violence from the State of California, through CalVIP, the California Violence Intervention Program. The grant was described as a 30-month program intending to serve 300 youths and young adults, and their family and friends.  

Named The Peacemaker Project, the $3.65 million award to San Diego was supposed to go mostly to six organizations that already had a relationship with the Gang Commission: Union of Pan Asian Communities, Community Wraparound, Open Heart Leaders, Paving Great Futures, Mothers with a Message, and San Ysidro Health Center. 

Pastor Jesus Sandoval is executive director of the Commission on Gang Prevention and Intervention, and through his programs he seeks to “deploy de-escalation tactics in the aftermath of violence” trying to prevent retaliation violence.

Sandoval said he intends to use resources for behavioral health screenings, employment assistance, and parenting classes.

Sandoval said, “Finally the stars have aligned for us to receive this funding!” 

There were at least three separate shootings recently, the weekend before Halloween, on Saturday night, October 28, 2023, in San Diego County. 

It was after 7 p.m. that Saturday, at the Otay Ranch Town Center in Chula Vista, when four people suffered leg wounds from a shooting. The victims were described as a 16-year-old boy, a 21-year-old woman, a 58-year-old man, and a 60-year-old woman. Chula Vista police said a confrontation started outside of Novo Brazil Brewing restaurant, and that it was a “targeted attack,” and it was one gunman who allegedly fired all the shots. The shooter might have been with two companions (seen in surveillance video from inside the brewery/restaurant); that group of three chased two other people who fled into the brewery with the three attackers following. When the shooting started, customers inside the restaurant/brewery scattered. Police speculated that the 16 year-old-boy was the one who was “targeted.” The founder of Novo Brazil Brewing, Tiago Carneiro, said one of his customers was an innocent bystander who was struck by one bullet, and that “Participants of the incident were not our customers.” All four victims are expected to survive their injuries.

On that same Saturday, just before midnight two teenagers were shot and killed at a house party in El Cajon.  Police said the 16- and 18-year-old victims were targeted, and the two were confronted outside an Airbnb rented house in the 700 block of Mahogany Drive (Mahogany and Washington Ave.) There is said to be cell phone video immediately following the shooting, showing multiple suspects wearing face masks running away toward a vehicle parked nearby, and then one gunman returning to the scene and shooting the 18-year-old again in the street. The suspects escaped. The 16-year-old kid was reportedly found dead in the yard of a home, and his family identified him as DayShan Thomas. His family protested that their teen was not a gang member, and they set up a GoFundMe page to pay for his funeral costs. “It is suspected the attack was gang-related” according to El Cajon police, who were seen photographing bullet holes in neighboring homes. No arrests yet.

That same Saturday night (just before 1 a.m. Sunday morning), a teenaged girl identified as Brianna walked away from a “sweet sixteen party” in the Talmadge area of San Diego, and somehow she was struck by a single bullet in a “gang-related fight,” according to published reports. 

San Diego police said Brianna had just left a party in the 4400 block of Winona Avenue (Near El Cajon Blvd.), and there was “some sort of altercation between two groups” which occurred at 4950 El Cajon Blvd. The girl was struck in her upper back by one bullet which apparently has left her paralyzed.

Witnesses said the shooter wore a grey hoodie and dark pants. The street gang unit of the San Diego Police Department responded and is investigating. No suspects have been arrested yet. 

The injured teen was identified as the niece of local political activist Shane Harris, who posted on TwitterX that he and his family want the criminals responsible to be arrested and put behind bars. “We will not stop pushing for Justice.” Harris also stated: “Those who are pushing for ‘criminal justice reforms’ need to understand that you can do that and seek prison for violent criminals who need to be taken off of our streets. This is not a one or the other situation.  Those who are violent need to be put behind bars and there should be no debate on that.” 

On Shane Harris’ website for his organization PAJA, People’s Association of Justice Advocates, it states that Harris himself has struggled with gangs and drugs.