BART and Jasmine Gao and Gao family issue a joint statement about a settlement agreement related to an officer-involved shooting on November 18, 2024

On June 19, 2025, Jasmine Gao reached a mediated pre-litigation settlement with Bay Area Rapid Transit regarding an officer-involved shooting by BART police officer Nicholas Poblete on November 18, 2024, in Union City. The settlement is in the amount of $6.75 million. According to her attorneys, the shooting left Ms. Gao, 33 years old, with significant physical and emotional distress injuries. About twelve hours after the shooting, BART Chief of Police Franklin made a public media statement based on the available information from the investigation at that time that included "the driver is alleged to have assaulted a police officer." Having reviewed the body-worn camera footage, BART acknowledges that Ms. Gao did not assault the officers with a deadly weapon and that she was driving away when Poblete discharged his gun.

Officer Poblete responded to a report of a vehicle doing donuts. Ms. Gao was cleared of that possible crime shortly after the officers arrived, when an officer checked her tires and noted they were cold. The officers determined that Ms. Gao's vehicle's registration appeared to be expired. When Ms. Gao drove away from the officers Poblete fired.

BART acknowledges that when Ms. Gao drove away, no officer was being dragged or had any body part stuck in the window of her car when Poblete fired, and that no officer was otherwise endangered by the Ms. Gao's driving of the vehicle. After completing an administrative investigation of the incident, BART issued a notice of intent to terminate Poblete.

No criminal charges were filed against Ms. Gao. As part of the settlement, Ms. Gao, her attorneys John Burris and Ben Nisenbaum, BART and Chief Franklin agreed to a joint statement acknowledging the public statement issued the morning after the incident was not accurate. While it was alleged that Ms. Gao assaulted the officers with her vehicle and that was the reason for the shots being fired, the body-worn camera shows that allegation was not accurate.

Ben Nisenbaum, an attorney for Ms. Gao, said "Ms. Gao was badly injured by a police shooting that was an unreasonable overreaction to a vehicle registration that had expired so recently that California law prevented police from taking any law enforcement action against her."

Nisenbaum added: "Ms. Gao was shot in the back, and the bullet passed between her heart and a major artery. She nearly died. She was hospitalized and no longer has full mobility in her left arm. Ms. Gao and her family recognize the importance of resolving this case expeditiously without filing a lawsuit. The acceptance of accountability by BART and Chief Franklin are significant factors in the settlement."

BART's Chief Communications Officer, Alicia Trost said, "Our priority is public trust. We immediately placed Nicholas Poblete on leave pending an independent investigation. We engaged Ms. Gao's attorneys before a lawsuit was filed to work toward an early resolution that brings closure for Ms. Gao and her family while avoiding years of litigation. BART believes resolving this matter promptly is also in the best interest of our riders, employees, and the community."