Johannes Mehserle was found guilty on Thursday afternoon in the New Year's Day 2009 killing of 22-year-old Oscar Grant III.
Involuntary manslaughter typically carries a sentence of two to four years. Sentencing was set for Aug. 6.
Mehserle was placed in handcuffs and taken away after the verdict. He turned to his family and mouthed, "I love you, guys." His parents wept when the verdict was read.
Grant's mother, Wanda Johnson, stared at the jurors and appeared upset.
One female juror wiped tears with a tissue when the panel was polled on its decision.
At least five bystanders had videotaped the shooting incident - one of the most racially polarizing cases in California since four Los Angeles officers were acquitted in 1992 in the beating of Rodney King. Mehserle is white, Grant was black.
Prosecutors said the 28-year-old Mehserle became angry at Grant for resisting arrest. Mehserle claimed he mistakenly drew his handgun instead of his Taser stun gun.
The trial was moved to Los Angeles from Oakland due to racial tensions and extensive media coverage.
The jury consisting of eight women and four men, none of them black, only deliberated for six hours over two days before delivering their decision. The jury had a choice between second-degree murder and lesser charges of voluntary and involuntary manslaughter.
The verdict followed a three-week trial in which prosecutors played the videos taken by bystanders, and witnesses recounted hearing the frightening gunshot that killed Grant.
The case was a rare instance in which a police officer stood trial for an on-duty killing.
Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley indicated that she was "disappointed and frustrated," because "this was not the verdict we sought."
"This case is a tragedy in every respect, and Oscar Grant should never have been killed at the hands of a sworn officer," she added.
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