In light of fatal shooting, BART says not all train cameras record video

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Photos released this week show a person suspected in the shooting death of another man on BART train. They're helpful, but what about the cameras that could have caught him in the act? BART Police Chief Kenton Rainey confirmed Thursday that not all the train cameras are actually recording.

No matter how hard ABC7 News pressed the chief, he would not disclose how many of those train cameras are actually functioning. But what you may find surprising is why those cameras were installed on the trains in the frist place.

BART station surveillance cameras captured a suspected shooter leaving the West Oakland station.

"It shows his face pretty clearly," Rainey said. "We know where he got on and we know where he got off."

But the police chief won't say if onboard cameras caught the shooting incident or how many of the train cameras are actually recording.

"I'm not going to get into our camera system," he said.

Saturday's killing is bringing the camera system into clearer focus for some riders.

"You know they're there, so everyone is under the thinking that they're rolling," said BART rider Charles Glover. "So for them to not be rolling that's false advertisement and it's not right."

Turns out the train cameras were installed in the late 1990s to combat a costly crime - graffiti. Some riders aren't surprised there are decoy cameras.

"I believe it," said Glover with a laugh.

BART rider Eric Netzer, however, had this to say, "If they're going to put dummy cameras on there, they might as well put the real deal."

The new BART trains will come with functioning cameras.

In the meantime, the chief says violent crime is down by 10 percent from 2014 to 2015. Saturday's killing was shocking, but rare.

"You know, my mom was kinda worried right after the shooting," said Glover. "She was like, 'Now I'm scared to go on BART.' But I feel like after this happened there will be a lot less of that happening because, you know, just awareness."

"If somebody has a gun and they want to shoot somebody for whatever reason, would a camera stop them?" asked Rainey.