Boston Police Officer Nicholas O’Malley was arrested Thursday and charged with manslaughter in a deadly police shooting last week in Roxbury. According to court documents, body-worn camera footage and witness statements led to the officer’s arrest after he allegedly shot a fleeing suspect three times through the driver’s side window of a stolen car.
O’Malley is charged in the death of 39-year-old Stephenson King of Dorchester, who was shot by Boston Police on Wednesday, March 11.
The 33-year-old officer was arraigned in Boston Municipal Court in Roxbury. A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf. Dozens of Boston police officers filled the courtroom to support him during the arraignment.
A judge ordered O’Malley released on personal recognizance with the condition that he surrender all firearms.
Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said no body camera footage will be released at this time despite several Boston City Councilors calling for its release. During the arraignment, defense attorney Ken Anderson suggested the arrest was political since it is an election year.
“This has nothing to do with an election year, it has nothing to do with public opinion, it has nothing to do with politics. This has to do with us following the facts and the applicable laws and circumstances,” Hayden said during a news conference after the arraignment.
“They book him to embarrass him, to put on this show for all of you,” Anderson said.
Stephenson King Killed by Police
King was a suspect in a carjacking on Tremont Street around 9:45 p.m. A woman was sitting in the passenger’s seat of her running car when police say King forced her out and stole the vehicle.
Police found the car a short time later at Linwood Square.
Investigators later viewed body-worn camera footage from the incident. Charging documents allege that O’Malley and another officer approached the car, commanding King to show his hands, shut off the car, and unlock the doors.
Police said King showed his hands at times, partially opened the driver’s window, but did not shut off the car or unlock the doors.
“Bro, I’m gonna f—–g shoot you”
Video allegedly showed that while outside the driver’s window, O’Malley pointed a taser and shouted at King, “Bro, I’m gonna f—–g shoot you.”
Boston police said that immediately after O’Malley made that statement, King backed the car into a police cruiser behind him. He then drove forward, back into reverse, then forward again.
When King drove forward for the final time, O’Malley allegedly pulled his gun and fired three shots. He then used his radio to communicate the shooting, telling dispatch that the suspect “tried to run us over.”
“Based upon BWC footage and the interviews of the officers, regardless of their perception, that statement was not factually true,” a Boston Police Department report of the incident read.
King was rushed to a hospital and died. Police said no one else was hurt. No weapons were found in King’s possession or inside the car.
In an interview with the department after the shooting, O’Malley said he believed the second officer on scene was going to be crushed by King’s car. Police determined that was not reasonable based on the body camera footage and witness statements.
“An eyewitness who observed the incident stated that neither officer was in the path of the vehicle as it drove away,” the report said.
What the Defense Says Body Camera Doesn’t Catch
Boston Police Patrolmen’s Union president Larry Calderone said during his own news conference after the arraignment that body cameras do not properly capture human emotions.
“For the ADA to strive to convince you or anyone else about how that officer felt, what that officer saw when his body camera in his chest is what they’re looking at is preposterous to me. They can’t possibly know how that police officer felt,” Calderone said.
Anderson said that he has worked on around 100 cases involving police shootings and has never worked on one where the officer was charged. He called this case “unprecedented.”
“That body-worn camera does not have human adrenaline. That body-worn camera is not worried about not seeing someone’s hands. That body-worn camera isn’t worried about not going home safe at night,” Anderson said. “So they can say whatever they want from that body-worn camera that we’re not allowed to see because of the DA’s policy before the interview. But he stands by his actions. I reckon at the conclude of this case he’s going to walk away an innocent man.”
Calderone said that officers now don’t experience safe doing their job.
“Try being the officer in two seconds, to process all that information, to offer a verbal command to pull a taser, to go to his next piece of equipment and make the right decision all the time. I guarantee you have no idea how that officer felt. We do,” Calderone said. “Why wouldn’t we be outraged? Why wouldn’t these men and women think a second thought now when they were out there protecting citizens?”
According to Massachusetts law, an officer is not allowed to discharge their gun into a fleeing motor vehicle, “unless, based on the totality of the circumstances, such a discharge is necessary to prevent imminent harm to a person and the discharge is proportionate to the threat of imminent harm to a person.”
Court records show that King was scheduled to go on trial in Roxbury on April 22 for a carrying a firearm without a license charge. He had several past charges out of Brighton that had been dismissed, including one for strangulation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What charges is Officer O’Malley facing?
Officer O’Malley is charged with manslaughter.
What was Stephenson King accused of before the shooting?
Stephenson King was a suspect in a carjacking and was scheduled to go on trial for carrying a firearm without a license.
Was anyone else injured in the incident?
Police said no one else was hurt during the shooting.
As this case moves forward, what impact will it have on public trust in law enforcement and the ongoing debate surrounding police use of force?
