Officer-involved shooting in downtown Modesto justified, DA says

The shooting by two Modesto police officers of an armed man inside a parking garage last year was justified, the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday.

Christopher Fletcher, 24, pulled a loaded Ruger .44-caliber revolver from his waistband when confronted by Officers Tom Fara and Brent Salyer after a short pursuit on his bicycle in downtown Modesto.

“Officer Fara, a very experienced police officer, would later say that Fletcher’s actions were not the actions of someone trying to ditch evidence, but someone who wanted to engage the officers,” reads a letter to Modesto police Chief Galen Carroll from the District Attorney’s Office detailing its findings. “Fara said the look on Fletcher’s face and his tugging at this item made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.”

The incident began just after 2 p.m. Dec. 17 when Fara and Salyer, partnered in a marked patrol car, saw Fletcher riding a bicycle in violation of a municipal code.

They tried to pull him over but he rode away toward the Merrill Lynch Building at 801 10th St.

Fletcher entered the building’s parking garage, where he pulled the revolver from his waistband and failed to comply with officers’ orders to drop the gun.

The officers fired at Fletcher until he fell to the ground.

Investigators later learned he had taken the gun from his grandmother without permission, according to the letter. An autopsy revealed he had a “potentially toxic” level of methamphetamine in his system at the time.

Fletcher was a repeat offender of violent and drug-related offenses and was being sought by the Stanislaus County Probation Department the day of the shooting because he was out of compliance with the terms of his supervision, according to the letter.

This story was originally published November 4, 2016 at 6:37 PM with the headline "Officer-involved shooting in downtown Modesto justified, DA says."