DA Reopens Investigation Into Oscar Grant Shooting

OAKLAND, CA — More than a decade after a Black man was fatally shot by a BART police officer in Oakland, the Alameda County District Attorney has agreed to reopen his case in response to demands made by his family. Oscar Grant, 22, was shot in the back on New Years day in 2009 by then officer, Johannes Mehserle as he laid on the ground.

The district attorney's office confirmed that it would reopen the case at the same time several of Grant's family members were planning to hold a news conference Monday, calling for District Attorney Nancy O'Malley's office to do so.

"I have assigned a team of lawyers to look back into the circumstances that caused the death of Oscar Grant," O'Malley said in a statement. "We will evaluate the evidence and the law, including the applicable law at the time and the statute of limitations and make a determination."

A spokesperson for the Grant family did not immediately return a request for comment about the announcement by the district attorney's office.

The Rev. Wanda Johnson, Grant's mother, and Cephus X Johnson, Grant's uncle, were among those calling for O'Malley to reopen the case, allowing for renewed scrutiny on former BART police officer Anthony Pirone.

Former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for fatally shooting Grant on New Year's Day after responding to a report of a fight on a BART train.

Merserle claimed he had accidentally grabbed his gun instead his taser when he shot Grant in the back, according the the Mercury News.

But Pirone was not charged for his involvement in the shooting.

A 2009 report on the case by former Oakland City Attorney Jayne Williams and then-attorney Kimberly Colwell of the law firm Meyers Nave found that Pirone, who knelt on Grant's back and pinned him to the ground, "started a cascade of events that ultimately led to the shooting of Grant."

The report argued "(o)fficer Pirone's overly aggressive and unreasonable actions and conduct in violation of policy and acceptable standards contributed substantially to the escalation of the hostile and volatile atmosphere during the course of the incident."

Investigators also determined that Pirone called Grant the N-word multiple times while he pinned him to the ground at the Fruitvale BART station. Pirone later argued that he was repeating what Grant had said to him.

Both Grant's death and the more recent killing of George Floyd by a police officer, have sparked nationwide outrage, igniting a massive Black Lives Matter social justice movement, demanding to put a stop to police brutality. The movement has kept protestors marching through the streets of several major cities across the U.S. since May 25.

Bay City News and Patch staffer Kat Schuster contributed to this report.