OFFICE OF THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY JEFFREY 5, GETING PROSECUTING ATTORNEY 27 WEST NCCAA ALAZOO, iCAGAN 49007 oe 269/388-3900 ax 26/303 075 RE THOMAS MATTHEW VERILE JR. OFFICER INVOLVED SHOOTING Summary On Thursday April 4, 2019, at approximately 9:38am, officers of the Michigan State Police Sth District Fugitive Team (Fugitive Team). and uniformed. officers of the. ..- Kalamazoo Township Police Department went to 2826 E, G Ave in Kalamazoo County to attempt the arrest of Thomas Matthew Verile Jr. (Verile). The Fugitive Team entered the residence with permission of the homeowner and encountered Verile hiding under clothing and other laundry in the basement. When confronted by the Fugitive Team, Verile claimed to be armed with a gun, He threatened to kill himself and the officers. With his hands covered, Verile made a sudden movement towards the officers, threatening their safety. Believing Verile to be armed, the officers responded to the immediate threat with deadly force. Verile was shot multiple times. Each member of the Fugitive Team fired multiple times. At the time of the shooting, none of the Fugitive Team officers directly involved were equipped with body worn cameras. Itwas later determined that Verile was not armed at the time of the shooting. Thomas Matthew Verile Jr. died as a result of the injuries received when shot multiple times by officers of the Fugitive TeamCAUSE OF DEATH An autopsy was completed on Verile at the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker ‘School of Medicine. The autopsy was performed by forensic pathologist Dr. Brandy Shattuck. Dr. Shattuck concluded that the cause of death was "Multiple gunshot wounds". She concluded that the manner of death was "Homicide’. Verile suffered multiple gunshot wounds. This included bullet entrance wounds to the: 4. Anterior chin 2. Inferior chin 3. Left neck 4. Left shoulder 5. Left shoulder 6. Left anterior torso 7. Left arm 8. Left abdomen 9. Right thigh 40. Posterior right thigh 11. Right leg 12. Right leg 43. Right hand A determination of the order in which the injuries were received is not possible. Because of bullets exiting Veriles body there are multiple additional injuries. A total of twenty six separate wounds were noted. ‘There was no evidence of any other significant injury or disease found during the autopsy. Toxicology tests were performed on Verile. Tests of cavity blood were positive for Methadone, Morphine, Amphetamine, and Methamphetamine. Urine tests were presumptively positive for both Amphetamines and Methadone. THOMAS MATTHEW VERILE JR. RELEVANT BACKGROUND INFORMATION Prior to the contact with Verile on April 4th, it was known to all members of the Fugitive Team that Verile had an extensive criminal history.“At the time of the shooting, Verile was wanted for having violated his parole from the Michigan Department of Corrections. Verile had absconded from the Kalamazoo Parole Office. The warrant for violation of his parole was dated March 13, 2019. Information from the Kalamazoo Parole Office to the Fugitive Team included this statement; "The Parole Absconder list includes Parole Verile, Thomas. ..8E ADVISED - HE WILL RUN / FIGHT and MAY be ARMED. CAUTION ADVISED," ‘There was also an Officer Safety Caution warning for Verile in the LEIN System. Verile's outstanding warrants included: 1. Miscellaneous Want for Parole Violation DOW: 3/13/19 Remarks: Parole absconder/no bond - B&E Building with Intent, Felony Firearms Givil for Neglect Child DOW: 2/15/18 . Civil for Neglect Child DOW: 2/15/19 . Criminal Bench Fail to Appear DOW: 3/15/19. Remarks: Orig Chrg - Poss Short Brl Shotgun, FTA Financial review RON In addition to the outstanding parole violation and other warrants, Verile was also suspected of having been involved in a March 2019 case involving stolen firearms, tools, and vehicles. Verile's prior criminal history includes convictions for Misdemeanor Larceny in 2013 Felony Stolen Property in 2014 ‘Two Counts Felony Forgery in 2014 Felony Burglary in 2015 Felony Weapons Offense in 2015 pkeNs Verile was sentenced to prison in the Michigan Department of Corrections for a period of two years on May 11, 2015 for the offense of Felony Firearm. He was subsequently sentenced to prison in the Michigan Department of Corrections for a period of one year to ten years on November 7, 2016 for three charges of Breaking and Entering a Building with Intent. Verile was discharged on parole to Kalamazoo County by the Michigan Department of Corrections in July 2017. OFFICERS INVOLVED Four law enforcement personnel assigned to the Michigan State Police 5th District Fugitive Team were directly involved in the shooting of Verile. Those team members. included:1. Deputy United States Marshal Tony Casper. Casper has been employed with the Marshall Service since 2003. He was assigned to the Western District of Michigan Grand Rapids Office from 2003 - 2015. Since 2015 he has been assigned to the Kalamazoo Office. He has participated with the Fugitive Team since 2015 when his court schedule and other sub-office duty schedule allows. 2. Michigan State Police D/Sgt. Kevin Conklin. D/Sgt. Conklin has been employed by the Michigan State Police since 1995. He was promoted to Sergeant in 2000 and Detective Sergeant in 2008. He has been assigned to the Paw Paw post since 2012. Conklin has been a member of the Fugitive Team since 2015. Prior to becoming a MSP Trooper, Conklin served in the United States Army from 1989-1993, 3. Michigan Department of Corrections Investigator Thomas Johnson. Johnson has been employed with the Michigan Department of Corrections since 2006. He was assigned to the Special Altemative Incarceration Boot Camp until 2009. From 2009 - 2015 he was assigned to Probation/Parole as an agent in Ingham, Kalamazoo and Calhoun County. Since 2015 Johnson has worked as an Investigator for the Absconder Recovery Unit. 4, Battle Creek Police Department Officer Andrew Horn. Hom has been employed by the.BCPD since-March 1999,-He has been assigned to their Emergency Response Team, has been a Police Training Officer, a Firearms Instructor, a Defensive Tactics instructor, an Explosive Breaching Instructor, an OC Instructor, and a Kinetic Energy weapon (Bean Bag) Instructor. Horn was selected to be on the Fugitive Team in October 2017. INCIDENT Prior to April 4th, the Fugitive Team had previously attempted to arrest Verile. This took place on April 2nd, 2019. The Fugitive team had been asked by another Michigan State Police investigative team to try to locate Verile in connection with an ongoing investigation involving stolen firearms, tools, and vehicles. Information was developed that led the Fugitive Team to believe that Verile might be located at 509 Fenimore St in Kalamazoo MI. The Fenimore St address was put under surveillance. At approximately 8:00am on April 2nd, a car driven by Verile arrived at the Fenimore address. It backed into the driveway. The Fugitive Team converged on the car, surrounding it. Each member of the Fugitive Team was in plain clothes but each was wearing a clearly marked tactical vest identifying themselves as police. The Fugitive ‘Team members verbally identified themselves as police and directed Verile tosurrender. Despite the obvious danger fo the police, and likely serious injury that his actions could cause, Verile placed the car in gear and fled. When he did so, Verile caused Officer Hom to have to jump from the hood of the car to protect himself, and nearly struck U.S. Marshal Casper and Investigator Johnson with his car while fleeing. After Verile's actions on 4/2/19 it was believed by the Fugitive Team that he was willing to cause injury or worse to officers in order to avoid arrest. Verile's actions heightened the concerns of the officers attempting to arrest him, On Thursday April 4, 2019 officers assigned to the Fugitive Team went to the address of 2826 E. G Ave in Kalamazoo County Michigan to attempt arrest of Verile, The Fugitive Team was accompanied by officers of the Kalamazoo Township Police Department. The Township officers were there to serve as back-up and did not enter the home until after the shooting occurred. ‘Once at the home the Fugitive Team surrounded the house and began surveillance. During that time the homeowner came outside. Contact was made with her. She confirmed that Verile had been staying in the basement and was currently present in the home. She gave the Fugitive Team permission to enter the home for the purpose of arresting Verile. The home at 2826 E. G Ave is an older, small ranch house with a partially finished basement. The basement is divided at the bottom of the stairs. To the left is the -.finished area. In-that space-is a bed, couch,-chair, and other furniture... «~~ At the bottom of the stairs to the right is a narrow door leading to an unfinished area The unfinished utlity room is small and cramped. The homes furnace, hot water heater, washing machine and dryer are all located there. There is also a sink and upright freezer. Along the walls are several shelving units. At the time of this shooting there was a large amount of cloths and other laundry near the shelves that appeared to be waiting to be washed. There was also many storage totes, an exercise machine, and numerous household items in the room. Movement within, and exiting, the unfinished area was difficult. There are no clear, quick paths to retreat, especially when multiple people are in the room at the same time. From the top of the stairs the Fugitive Team gave several verbal commands to Verile telling him to "come out with his hands up". Fugitive Team members also yelled "State Police". After waiting several minutes and making multiple attempts to get Verile to surrender were met with no response the Fugitive Team proceeded into the basement. The Fugitive Team first cleared the finished side of the basement. Nothing of concern to the officers was located there. ‘The Fugitive Team then entered the unfinished side of the basement. To their right was a large pile of clothes in front of a shelving unit. Members of the Fugitive Team began to clear the clothes away. While they were doing this Verile was spotted under theclothes. A member of the Fugitive Team annouriced that he saw him. Other members of the Fugitive Team began to remove obstacles so they could better see where Verile was hiding. Verile remained covered by clothes and blankets as he hid in one of the shelving units. Fugitive Team members instructed Verile to "show us your hands". Verile failed to comply. A member of the team grabbed Verile's foot and pulled him from the shelving unit. Verile was on the floor on his back. His face was visible but nat his hands. Verile had clothing and other items still covering his body and hands. Alll of the Fugitive Team members continued to loudly demand that Verile show them his hands. Verile continued to refuse to comply. Verile yelled that he had a gun. Several times he repeated that he was armed. He threatened to kill himself. He threatened to kill the officers. Verile continued to ignore commands to show his hands. Verile suddenly attempted to sit up. When he did so he moved his covered hands and arms forward towards the officers. Believing that Verile was armed and in the process of pointing a gun at them members of the Fugitive Team each shot multiple times at Verile. A total of seventeen shots were fired by members of the Fugitive Team. Verile was struck by thirteen rounds. Members of the Fugitive Team immediately began life saving efforts, Emergency personnel responded and continued those efforts. Verile was transported to a local hospital. Unfortunately, Verile died from his injuries, SUBSEQUENT INVESTIGATION After the officer involved shooting the Michigan State Police assumed jurisdiction of the scene and began an immediate investigation. Because the Fugitive Team operated out of the MSP 5th District the case was assigned to investigators from the MSP 3rd District Headquarters, located in Flint Mi. The investigators of the 3rd District have no conneotion to any of the Sth District Fugitive Team members. The investigation was led by DiLt Pat Roti. D/Lt Roti was assisted by D/Sgt. Brian Reece, D/Sgt. Jeff Hunger, D/Sgt. Chris Siegert, D/Sgt. David Vansingel, D/Sgt. Heather Lass and others. Each of the police officers involved in the shooting were relieved of their weapons. The involved officers were separated from each other and other witnesses until they could provide statements. The seized weapons were maintained as evidence, Personnelfrom the Michigan State Police Crime Lab in Grand Rapids were called to process the scene. The investigation conducted by the Michigan State Police, Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, and Kalamazoo Township Police Department included documenting the scene, photographing the scene and physical evidence, interviewing all police witnesses, interviewing all other persons who had information relevant to the shooting, seizing all physical evidence from the scene, seizing all video and recorded audio evidence from the scene, and subsequent testing of all evidence seized In addition, reports were prepared by each of the Fugitive Team officers involved in the incident. Those statements were provided to the Michigan State Police. Relevant evidence that was seized included each of the Fugitive Team member's firearm with unfired rounds, Kalamazoo Township patrol car video, body worn camera footage from Kalamazoo Township officers who were outside of the house, fired bullets and bullet fragments, and seventeen fired cartridge cases from four different firearms LEGAL ANALYSIS By law it is my responsibility as the Kalamazoo County Prosecuting Attomey to review the actions of the officers who fired their weapons in this incident. The purpose of this review is to determine if any criminal charges are warranted against any person involved in the shooting death of Thomas Matthew Verile Jr. In considering the actions of the officers, | have thoroughly reviewed and taken into consideration the investigation reports provided by the Michigan State Police, the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, and the Kalamazoo Township Police Department. | have examined every photograph. | have examined the video and audio recordings placed in evidence. | have reviewed the autopsy report prepared by Dr. Shattuck, I have been to the location. of the shooting on the date of the shooting in order to form my own impression of the scene. In short, | have thoroughly reviewed all of the evidence in the case. | have reviewed and considered the law that is applicable to police use of force. In doing so, | have considered decisions authored by the United States Supreme Court, including its recent opinions regarding police use of deadly force, Kisela v Hughes 584 US __; 138 S Ct 1148 (4/2/2018) and County of Los Angeles v Mendez, 581 US __; 137 'S Ct 1539 (5/30/2017), decisions of the Federal Court of Appeals for the 6 Circuit, and decisions of the State of Michigan's Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. | have considered the Self Defense and Defense of Others jury instructions provided by the Michigan State Bar for use and consideration of a justification defense at trialIn Michigan, the law allows the police to use force, including deadly force, in the performance of their job. They may use that degree of force that is reasonable under the circumstances to effectuate an arrest. They may take reasonable action to protect themselves in the course of making an arrest. ‘What constitutes reasonable force depends on the facts in a particular situation, The reasonableness of the force used must be considered in the light of the circumstances as they appear to the officer at the time he/she acted. A police officer has discretion, within reasonable limits, to determine the amount of force that the circumstances require and is not guilty of any wrongdoing unless she/he arbitrarily abuses that power. A determination of whether the force used is reasonable under the 4" Amendment requires a careful balancing of the intrusion on the person's 4" Amendment interest and the opposing governmental interest at stake. Ultimately, the police may use the force that is necessary, including deadly force, if they have sufficient evidence to believe that a suspect poses a threat of serious physical harm to the officer or others. A police officer has the same rights as a private citizen to use the force that is reasonably necessaty to defend themselves or others, A police officer may use deadly force if he/she has a reasonable belief that she/he or others may be Killed or seriously injured. A person accused of a crime, including a police officer, may assert justification, or self- defense, to explain their actions. In Michigan, any person may use deadly-force to.~-.~ defend themselves or others under certain circumstances. To determine whether a person acted in lawful self-defense, their action must be judged according to how the circumstances appeared to them at the time they acted. Deadly force in self-defense is appropriate if a person has an honest and reasonable belief that they were in immediate danger of being killed or seriously injured. A belief of only potential minor injury would not justify killing or seriously injuring another person. If their belief was honest and reasonable, a person can act at once to defend themselves even if it tums out later that the person was wrong about how much danger they were in, In determining whether the action was appropriate, all of the surrounding circumstances must be considered including the conditions of the people involved, their relative strength, whether the other person was armed with a dangerous weapon, or had some other means of injuring others, the nature of the other person's attack or threat, and whether the actor knew about any previous violent acts or threats made by the attacker. Lastly, the actor must have an honest and reasonable belief that what they did was immediately necessary. Under the law, a person may use as much force as they believe is needed at the time to protect themselves.Ultimately, the actor does not have to prove that they acted in self-defense, instead it is the Prosecution's responsibility to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the actor did not act in self-defense. APPLICATION OF THE LAW In applying the law to the facts of this particular situation it is important to do so from the proper perspective. In this case, that perspective is set forth by the United States ‘Supreme Court in Graham v Connor, 490 U.S, 386, 109 Supreme. Ct. 1865, 18721, 104 L. Ed. 443 (1989). in Graham, the court stated "the reasonableness of a particular use of foree must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight... police officers are often forced to make split second judgments-in circumstances that are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving- about the amount of force that is necessary in a particular situation." On April 4, 2019 members of the Fugitive Team were faced with the tense, uncertain, rapidly evolving circumstances anticipated by the United States Supreme Court. Arresting an absconder from parole is always a potentially dangerous action. This situation was made more dangerous by Verile's lengthy criminal history, his prior | conviction and prison sentence for the offense commonly described as Felony Firearm, | the.wamings to the Fugitive Team that Verile may.be armed, the confrontation. between ~~~ \Verile and the Fugitive Team on April 2nd, Verile hiding himself in a small cramped location in which the officers had limited ability to otherwise protect themselves, Verile's efusal to comply with orders to show his hands, Verile's claim that he was armed, and Verile's threat to kill the officers attempting to lawfully arrest him. The actions of the police at the moment that Verile moved quickly towards them with his hands covered must be judged from the "perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene’. They cannot be judged from the standpoint of someone who was not involved and who has the "20/20 vision of hindsight". At that moment, in the cramped basement of the home, members of the Fugitive Team had reason t6 believe that Verile was armed, and that he would shoot at them, causing death or great bodily injury. In fact, that is exactly what Verile was trying to convince them was true. Fugitive Team members Casper, Conklin, Johnson, and Horn each had an honest and reasonable belief that they were in immediate danger of serious injury or death. The action they took was immediately necessary to protect themselves and each other from that danger. The seriousness of the threat posed, the need for immediate action, and the reasonableness of the police action is further shown by the fact that each of the experienced officers of the Fugitive Team fired their weapons multiple times.CONCLUSION For these reasons it is the decision of the Kalamazoo County Office of the Prosecuting Attorney that Michigan State Police Sth District Fugitive Team members Deputy U.S. Marshal Tony Casper, Michigan State Police D/Sgt. Kevin Conklin, Michigan Department of Corrections Investigator Thomas Johnson and Battle Creek Police Department Officer Andrew Horn were justified in their use of deadly force to stop the immediate extreme threat posed by Thomas Matthew Verile Jr. As a result no charges will be filed by this office against any of them. EE LB Jeffrey 8. Getting Kalamazoo County Prosecuting Attorney April 16, 2019