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DA says Boston police officer was NOT acting in self-defense when he killed a man who had just carjacked a woman and rammed a police cruiser

Thursday, March 19, 2026•
6 min read
MDN Staff
•
DA says Boston police officer was NOT acting in self-defense when he killed a man who had just carjacked a woman and rammed a police cruiser

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BOSTON — A Boston police officer has been charged with manslaughter after prosecutors concluded he was "not acting in proper self-defense" when he fired three shots through the window of a stolen car — killing a man who had, just moments earlier, carjacked a woman at Tremont Street, rammed a police cruiser, and attempted to flee.
Officer Nicholas O'Malley, 33, was arrested Thursday morning. He is expected to be arraigned in the Roxbury division of Boston Municipal Court in connection with the March 11 fatal shooting of Stephenson King, 39, of Dorchester.
The charge — voluntary manslaughter — is extraordinarily rare for an on-duty Boston police officer.

The carjacking

Police records reviewed by Mass Daily News lay out the chain of events.
At 9:43 p.m. on March 11, officers responded to a reported carjacking on Tremont Street. A woman told police an unknown man had assaulted her while she sat in the passenger seat of her running vehicle, then ordered her out and took the car.
Her description and the vehicle's registration were broadcast over radio.

'Bro, I'm gonna f***ing shoot you'

O'Malley and Officer Todd Ho located the stolen car at 10 Linwood Square in Roxbury, parked nose-first to the sidewalk with the engine running. They pulled their cruiser behind it.
Both officers approached with weapons drawn. What happened next was captured on both of their body-worn cameras.
King was seated in the reclined driver's seat. The officers began shouting commands — show your hands, shut off the vehicle, unlock the doors. King showed his hands at times and cracked the driver's window, but did not comply with the remaining orders.
O'Malley holstered his firearm and reached for his Taser. Then, standing just outside the driver's window, he said it.
"Bro, I'm gonna fucking shoot you."
King immediately threw the car into reverse and slammed into the police cruiser behind him.

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Three shots through the window

What followed took seconds. King jerked the car forward, then reverse, then forward again — trying to escape the box the officers had put him in.
As the vehicle lurched forward the final time, O'Malley re-drew his firearm and fired three rounds through the driver's side window.
King accelerated down the street and crashed into a stone wall at the bottom of the road. O'Malley and Ho sprinted to the wreck and found him unresponsive. Boston EMS rushed King to Boston Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 10:24 p.m.
Scene of the fatal police shooting on Linwood Square in Roxbury
The scene on Linwood Square in Roxbury where the fatal shooting occurred on March 11.

The autopsy

An autopsy performed March 13 found King had been struck by all three projectiles. Two were recovered from his torso. A third was found lodged in the passenger area of the stolen vehicle.
No weapons were recovered from King or the car.

The DA's conclusion

Investigators from Boston police and the Suffolk County District Attorney's office determined, through "physical evidence and numerous witness interviews," that O'Malley "committed an act intended or likely to cause death, did cause Stephenson King's death, and was not acting in proper self-defense or defense of another."
Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden
Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden, a Democrat, whose office charged O'Malley with voluntary manslaughter.

A familiar name

King was no stranger to Boston police.
On January 25, 2024, officers from District B-2 found him asleep on a stairwell at 570 Dudley Street in Roxbury with a loaded 9mm ghost gun — a Polymer 80 with no serial number — tucked under his sweatshirt, one round in the chamber. He was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of a large capacity feeding device, and possession of ammunition.
The outcome of that case is unclear.

Councilors got their wish

The manslaughter charge lands just days after city councilors Miniard Culpepper and Brian Worrell issued a joint statement expressing "deep sadness" over King's death and demanding the release of body camera footage, as Mass Daily News previously reported.
Commissioner Michael Cox confirmed the bodycam footage exists. It has not been released publicly. Whether it influenced the DA's decision to charge O'Malley has not been disclosed.

Officers flood the courthouse

Dozens of Boston police officers showed up at Roxbury District Court Thursday afternoon to support O'Malley as he awaited arraignment — a striking show of force from rank-and-file officers who appear to view the charge as an attack on one of their own.
The Boston Police Patrolmen's Association has not commented. Mayor Michelle Wu has not addressed the charge.

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