KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — The four officers accused of fatally shooting a parole absconder at a home in Kalamazoo will not face any criminal charges.
Kalamazoo County’s Prosecuting Attorney Jeffrey Getting made that announcement Friday afternoon as he explained the morning of April 4th 2019 and the death of 37-year-old Thomas Verile Jr.
He started by listing the long criminal history of the suspect involved. Verile was wanted as a parole absconder after serving a prison sentence with the Michigan Department of Corrections and had previous convictions such as breaking and entering and felony firearm charges, among other prior convictions. Getting says a note to officers related to Verile’s wanted arrest read, “Be advised, he will run/fight and may be armed. Caution advised.”
He also had civil warrants for neglect of a child, a criminal bench warrant for failure to appear, and he was also wanted for questioning with an ongoing investigation with the Michigan State Police involving tools and firearms stolen from a local address.
Officers from the Michigan State Police 5th District Fugitive Team were tipped that Verile may be living at a home in the 2800 block of East G Avenue on the northeast side of Kalamazoo. Around 9:30 a.m. they surrounded the home, made contact with the homeowner, and the owner said that Verile was staying in the basement.
Four officers from the fugitive team cleared the upper floor of the house and called for Verile from the top of the basement stairs.
Those officers were Deputy U.S. Marshal Tony Casper, Michigan State Police Detective Sargent Kevin Conklin, Michigan Department of Corrections Investigator Thomas Johnson, and Battle Creek Police Department Officer Andrew Horn.
The basement had a narrow stairway, a finished bedroom area, and a small cluttered utility room, which was where Verile was hiding. “He curled up on the bottom of that shelving unit closest to the wall underneath all of that material,” said Getting.
As they search the room they started to clear it and saw Verile. They then made “loud commands” to tell him to show them his hands, but he did not comply.
“He started yelling that he had a gun, repeated several times that he was going to kill himself, repeated that he was going to kill the officers,” Getting stated, “He moved forward suddenly….the officers believed he had a gun at that time, and they fired.”
All four officer downstairs fired several rounds. 17 rounds were fired and 13 hit Verile in multiple spots including his chin, neck, shoulder, torso, arm, abdomen, thigh, leg, and hand.
“In Michigan the law allows officers to use force, including deadly force…they can use reasonable action to protect themselves,” Getting explains.
Lifesaving efforts were made by emergency personnel on the scene but he was later pronounced dead after being transported to Borgess Hospital. It was later determined that the victim did not have a weapon on him during the altercation.
Verile was wanted for two days prior for escaping and nearly hitting officers with his car as they were attempting to arrest him.
The Michigan State Police 5th District Fugitive Team is not equipped with body worn cameras so footage of the incident could not be obtained. The Kalamazoo Township Police Department was outside of the home at the time of the incident and they do wear body cameras, but they did not document the incident from inside the house.
Toxicology tests were conducted on Verile which tested positive for methadone, morphine, amphetamine, and methamphetamine.
“No one wants there to be one more officer-involved shooting,” says Getting, “and there are lessons to be learned looking back at previous cases.”
As a result, Getting stated that all four officers were justified in using deadly force “to stop the immediate extreme threat posed by Thomas Matthew Verile Jr.” and no charges will be filed against any of them.
(Jeana Gondek and Josh Scott contributed to this report)
