City of Madison responds to lawsuit filed over Dana Fletcher 2019 shooting
MADISON – Two years ago today, Dana Fletcher, 39, was killed by a Madison Police officer in the parking lot of Planet Fitness on Hwy 72 in Madison. Today, Madison officials responded to a lawsuits filed yesterday by members of the Fletcher family against the City of Madison and city officials.
The suits, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama and the Madison County Circuit Court, name the city, Mayor Paul Finley, Madison Police Chief Johnny Gandy, and current city council members as defendants.
“The City of Madison is aware of a lawsuit filed arising out of a law enforcement encounter with Dana Fletcher that occurred more than two years ago,” a statement from the City of Madison said. The statement was emailed to media Wednesday afternoon by the city’s communication specialist Samantha Magnuson. “The City plans a vigorous defense. The encounter at issue was the subject of an extensive independent investigation by the Madison County Sheriff’s Department and the Madison County District Attorney. The District Attorney confirmed that Mr. Fletcher possessed and threatened Madison Police Officers with a gun prior to the use of lethal force. The City stands behind its officers and will defend their actions in a court of law. The City will have no further comment on pending litigation.”
Cherelle Fletcher, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuits, continues to maintain her husband was unarmed when he was shot and killed. Fletcher’s mother and sister filed separate lawsuits in his death. The say they are holding the city responsible and want the body camera footage from the officers released.
The Madison County Sheriff’s Department investigated the shooting since it involved the Madison Police. The evidence was then turned over to Madison County District Attorney Robert Broussard for review, who cleared the Madison Police in 2019 of any criminal wrongdoing and said the use of deadly force was justified.
“The evidence in this case is crystal clear,” Broussard said at the time. “The actions of the Madison Police Department were entirely justified,”
Although the full video from police body camera was not released, still photos from the video and other security footage from nearby businesses were presented at a press conference on Nov. 15, 2019. One of the images appears to show Fletcher with a gun pointed to the head of a police officer as they both struggle and fall to the ground.
“Fletcher pointed the gun at the officer’s chest, also at his head,” DA prosecutor Tim Gann said as he showed parts of a surveillance video frame by frame. “The officer was able to get his gun out and fire four rounds at Mr. Fletcher.”
Gann said Fletcher was shot twice in the head and once in the shoulder.
Fletcher’s family have been very vocal since the shooting in pushing for release of the police officer’s full body camera video. They maintain that it could tell a completely different story, one where Dana Fletcher was harassed and murdered unlawfully by the Madison Police.
The incident started when police officers responded to the fitness center after 911 was called into the Madison Police Department about a suspicious van parked outside Planet Fitness. The caller, a Planet Fitness employee, said the occupants were asking “weird questions” and taking photos of employees in Planet Fitness.
“Mr. Fletcher was going into businesses in Madison and taking pictures and videos of employees and asking real personal questions,” Gann said following the DA’s review. “It was to the point that someone felt like they needed to call 911 and have it investigated.”
When the first officer arrived, Fletcher, his wife and child were sitting in the van at the parking lot of Planet Fitness.
“The officer made contact with Mr. Fletcher to explain why he was there, but immediately Mr. Fletcher became aggressive towards this officer,” Gann said. “The officer continued to try to speak with Mr. Fletcher, but things went south pretty quick.”
Gann described a chaotic scene between officers and Fletcher, including a confrontation and struggle as they tried to get Fletcher out of the van. He said police officers first used less-than-lethal force, which included a k-9 and a taser, but they were mostly ineffective.
According to Gann, Fletcher did start to exit the vehicle as an officer was struggling to pull him out, however, in doing so Gann said he reached for a 40-caliber Taurus pistol.
Gann said Fletcher exited the van with a gun in his hand and swung it towards the officer, falling on top of him. He said the k-9 had attacked Fletcher’s lower leg, which helped to get him off his feet.
Photos from business surveillance video presented at the press conference seems to show that the officer was able to pull his gun as he fell back, pushed down by Fletcher’s fall. It also appears to show Fletcher extending his arm out with a gun in hand in an attempt to shoot the police officer in the head. “The officer was able to get his shots off first,” Gann said.
The Fletcher family have continued to dispute the Madison County Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney’s findings of what happened during the incident and has asked the DA’s office to reopen an investigation into the shooting.
