A 33-year-old Boston police officer's report of the events that led to the fatal shooting of a carjacking suspect last week is inconsistent with body-worn camera footage, according to a police report filed in court.
The officer, Nicholas O'Malley, is now facing a charge of manslaughter in connection with the death of 39-year-old Stephenson King on March 11. He is set to be arraigned on the charge in Boston Municipal Court here on Thursday afternoon.
O'Malley Claimed He Shot King After He Tried to Run Fellow Officer Over
Police responded to Tremont Street at around 9.45 p.m. on March 11 over reports of a suspected carjacking incident, according to Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox.
When they arrived, a woman told them she was in the passenger's seat of her running car when a man assaulted her and ordered her out of the car, according to the police report, authored by detective Kevin Plunkett. O'Malley and fellow officer Todd Ho found the woman's car parked at 10 Linwood Square.
The officers then approached the vehicle with their guns drawn and ordered King to show them his hands, shut off the engine and unlock it. King showed them his hands and partially opened a window but did not unlock or shut off the car, according to the police report.
O'Malley, standing outside the driver's window, holstered his gun in favor of a taser. He shouted at King, "Bro, I'm going to (expletive) shoot you," according to the report.
Moments later, King put the car in reverse and backed into the cruiser behind him. He then maneuvered the car forward and back in a bid to get away from the officers. When the car began moving forward the last time, O'Malley pulled out his gun and fired three shots at King through the driver's side window, according to the report.
After the shots were fired, King drove down the street before the car crashed into a stone wall. The officers ran to the vehicle, where they found King unresponsive, according to the report. He was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:24 p.m.
An autopsy determined King had been hit three times, and two "projectiles" were recovered from his torso. Another was found in the car. No weapons were found on King or in the car, according to the report. After firing his gun, O'Malley radioed that the officers had fired their weapons and that King "tried to run us over," according to the report.
O'Malley's Statement 'Not Factually True,' 'Neither Officer was in Danger of Being Struck by the Vehicle,' Notes Police Report
"Based upon (body-worn camera) footage and the interviews of the officers, regardless of their perception, that statement was not factually true," the report reads.
During an interview with the police department's Firearm Discharge Team, O'Malley said he fired his gun because he believed Ho was going to be crushed by King's car. However, the body camera footage revealed "such a belief was unreasonable" and "neither officer was in danger of being struck by the vehicle at the time," the report reads.
An eyewitness also told police that neither officer was in the path of the car as it drove off and posed no threat to the officers, according to the report.
Massachusetts law prohibits police from firing into or at a car driving away unless doing so is "necessary to prevent imminent harm to a person and the discharge is proportionate to the threat of imminent harm to a person," the report reads.
