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Supporters of a Boston police officer charged in the fatal shooting of a carjacking suspect have donated more than $400,000 to an online fundraiser created to help him and his family.
The crowdfunding page for Nicholas O’Malley has raised $414,000 as of Monday afternoon.
O’Malley of Randolph, Massachusetts, is charged with voluntary manslaughter for allegedly firing at 39-year-old Stephenson King and causing his death without acting in proper self-defense or defense of another.
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Boston Police Officer Nicholas O’Malley attends his arraignment in Roxbury Municipal Court on March 19 for manslaughter charges in the fatal shooting of Stephenson King. (Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
He has pleaded not guilty to the March 11 shooting. The fundraiser was apparently launched by a fellow police officer.
“The O’Malley family is facing an incredibly difficult time due to unforeseen circumstances, and they need our support now more than ever,” the GoFundMe description reads. “With two young children depending on them, the financial road ahead is uncertain.”
A woman told police she had been sitting in the passenger seat of her running vehicle when a man later identified as King allegedly assaulted her, dragged her out and drove off in the car, according to investigators.
Upon responding to the stolen vehicle, O’Malley, 33, and another officer approached the vehicle and ordered King to show his hands and shut off the car. King, who had a long criminal history, raised his hands and partially opened his window but did not fully comply, authorities said.
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Boston Police Officer Nicholas O’Malley attends his arraignment in Roxbury Municipal Court. (Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
“Bro, I’m gonna f***ing shoot you,” O’Malley warned before King reversed into a cruiser in an apparent attempt to flee the scene.
As the vehicle moved forward again, O’Malley drew his firearm and fired three shots through the driver’s side window, fatally striking King.
Several Boston city councilors have warned against rushing to judgment.
“When one officer makes a split second, decisive action during an intense encounter with a known violent criminal who had just committed a heinous and violent crime, and that officer reacts in a manner he thought was best to protect the public and his partner, we cannot jump to any conclusion that this was done maliciously or without necessary action,” Councilor John FitzGerald wrote in a statement.
Councilor Erin Murphy noted King’s criminal history and called for the release of police bodycam footage from the shooting.
Boston Police Headquarters. (Photo by Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
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“None of us were there in that moment, and none of us had to make the kind of split-second decisions that come with a dangerous, fast-moving situation like this,” she said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to O’Malley’s attorney.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report.