KALAMAZOO, MI – An officer acted in self-defense when he fatally shot a man in March, the Kalamazoo County Prosecutor has ruled.

Kalamazoo Public Safety Officer Taylor Boreham acted in self-defense when shooting Nicholas Conklin, 33, of Battle Creek, on March 20, at a house on Westnedge Avenue between Wheaton and Minor avenues, according to a report released Thursday, Aug. 25 by Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting.

Based on the report, the police officer fired his gun eight times.

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Getting released his decision after Michigan State Police investigated the shooting.

No criminal charges will be filed against Boreham. He was hired by KDPS on May 17, 2021, according to city of Kalamazoo records.

“The actions of Mr. Conklin posed an immediate and extreme threat of death or serious injury to PSO Boreham, other officers, and the people nearby,” Getting said in a news release. “PSO Boreham’s belief that Mr. Conklin posed an immediate threat was both honest and reasonable.”

Police officers were responding to the house because of a complaint about a stolen vehicle around 10:20 a.m., the report said. The stolen truck was in the driveway with a scale and methamphetamine pipe.

Fatal police shooting of Nicholas Conklin by Marie Weidmayer on Scribd

Other residents of the house gave officers permission to enter the house and went upstairs to the apartment they believed Conklin was in, the report said.

Conklin’s girlfriend leased the apartment and refused to open the door to police, who were saying she needed to open it, the report said. While three officers waited in the hallway, another officer said Conklin tried to escape out the window but was unsuccessful.

Officers then heard a gunshot from inside the apartment and heard a woman scream, the report said. Officer David Kubacki tried to kick in the door but could not.

A second shot was fired by Conklin through the door, nearly hitting the officers, the report said. Kubacki and Officer Josiah Smith immediately retreated down the stairs, while Boreham retreated down the hallway, the report said.

Conklin then rapidly exited the apartment with a gun pointed down the stairs, tracking Boreham’s partners, the report said. Conklin continued to walk toward the officers on the stairs.

Boreham shot Conklin to protect his fellow officers and himself, the report said. Boreham was the only officer to fire his weapon, the report said.

“At that moment, in the morning hours, in a cramped hallway, faced with a man armed with a gun, who had already fired multiple shots, any “reasonable officer” would have an honest and reasonable belief that he, his fellow officers and the other persons present/nearby were in immediate danger of serious injury or death,” the report said.

Multiple witnesses told Michigan State Police that Conklin was “freaking out,” that he was “crazy and very violent,” and that he was worried about going back to prison, the report said.

Conklin was shot 11 times, according to the autopsy. A gunshot wound to his left index finger and a graze wound to his abdomen were self-inflicted when Conklin accidently fired a shot, according to the report.

He had meth and amphetamines in his system at the time of the autopsy, the report said.

Conklin’s girlfriend said he accidently shot himself in the hand, became more panicked, told her he wasn’t going back to prison, kissed her and walked out the door, the report said.

The semi-automatic handgun Conklin used was found at the scene with the safety off, with a bullet in the chamber and more loaded in the magazine, the report said.

In this March 21 file photo, Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Chief Vernon Coakley speaks at a press conference while next to a photo of the gun Nicholas Conklin allegedly had when he was fatally shot by officers. (MLive file photo)

Conklin had five warrants for his arrest at the time of the shooting. They were for felony probation violation, felony failure to appear, felony flight to avoid, civil warrant for neglect child and a misdemeanor warrant for aggravated assault, the report said.

He had multiple previous criminal convictions, including operating and maintaining a methamphetamine lab and fleeing police in July 2013. He also was convicted of receiving and concealing stolen property in September 2018.

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