Gabriel Strickland was well known to the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office as a homeless man with serious mental issues, including bipolar disorder, PTSD, and anxiety disorder. Since at least 2016, he’d been in and out of custody and undergone a number of mental evaluations.  

On Dec. 26, 2019, he was arrested again (unknown for what) and incarcerated at a correctional facility in Nevada City, Ca. At that time, Wellpath Management, Inc., a contractor providing medical services at the facility, performed a physical and mental intake assessment, determining that Strickland was uncooperative, angry, and had active mental health issues. It was further determined that he needed an urgent and more complete mental health evaluation. However, he was released after four days by the Nevada County Superior Court following a pretrial release hearing without further mental health evaluation.  

Two days later, on Jan. 1, 2020, the Nevada County Regional Dispatch received reports of a man walking on a residential road near a neighboring town –­­ Grass Valley – ­ with “what appeared to be a shotgun” slung over his shoulder. Officers from the Grass Valley Police Department and the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the scene, finding Strickland to be carrying what appeared to be a black plastic airsoft rifle marked with a telltale orange tip to its barrel, signifying that it was a replica and not a real firearm. At least some of the officers recognized Strickland from prior contacts and knew that he had mental issues and thus “would” (or should) “have known that Strickland was likely suffering from a mental health episode and would not likely respond to their commands in a ‘normal or expected manner.’”  

With guns drawn, five officers surrounded Strickland while repeatedly yelling at him to drop the gun. Strickland initially held the gun away from his body, telling the officers that it was a BB gun, and pointing to the orange tip as he slapped it with his hand making a noise that sounded more like plastic than metal. Taking no chances, the officers nonetheless continued to yell at him to drop the gun, that they didn’t want to kill him, and that he could have painted the orange tip. Strickland responded that he was “not doing nothing wrong.”  

Up to this point, Strickland merely stood there while pointing the gun toward the ground. As the officers began to tighten a circle around him, Strickland dropped to his knees. But then he started waving the gun around, pointing it at times toward the sky and then toward several of the officers. One officer deployed a Taser but missed. Seconds later, Strickland lowered the barrel, pointing it directly toward the officers, resulting in three of the officers opening fire.  

Struck several times, Strickland was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. The whole encounter, from the initial contact until Strickland was shot, lasted a little more than three minutes. A year later, Strickland’s mother, child, and estate sued the officers and their departments in federal court pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The district (trial) court dismissed the case, and the plaintiffs appealed.