Kendrec McDade was a 19-year-old African American college student who was fatally shot by Pasadena police officers on March 24, 2012. A 911 caller, Oscar Carrillo, reported that two men had pointed a gun at him and stolen his laptop near Orange Grove Boulevard and Raymond Avenue; that report proved false. Officers Matthew Griffin and Jeffrey Newlen pursued McDade after the call and opened fire when he allegedly reached for his waistband. McDade was struck by seven bullets, pronounced dead at Huntington Hospital, and an autopsy found he had been shot at point-blank range and was unarmed.

Oscar Carrillo was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter for making the false report. The shooting prompted investigations by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, the FBI, and the Los Angeles County Office of Independent Review. McDade’s family sued the city and police department alleging civil rights violations and wrongful death; the city reached undisclosed settlements with his parents in 2014. The case generated protests in Pasadena and fed into broader debates about police use of force and racial profiling.