Christopher Fletcher, 24, of Modesto, California, was shot and killed on December 17, 2015, after Modesto Police officers Tom Fara and Brent Salyer approached him on the 800 block of Tenth Street and followed him into the Merrill Lynch Building parking garage. Officers claimed Fletcher was holding a firearm; the account states he never pointed the weapon at them and was not an imminent threat. The officers detained him without reasonable suspicion, and the encounter ended in his fatal shooting.

Fletcher’s parents, Donna and Nathan Fletcher, and his minor child later sued the City of Modesto and the officers under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging violations of Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, municipal liability, and related state claims. The court dismissed the plaintiffs’ complaint as legally insufficient. Prior to his death, Fletcher had arrests for inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant, possession of drug paraphernalia, and carrying a concealed dirk or dagger.