Ohio’s MiddletonownThe Middletown police officer who shot and killed an armed man will not be charged with a crime, according to Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser.
The facts of the case involving Christopher Gorak, a 50-year-old suspect who was killed in the officer-involved shooting, were given to the Butler County Grand Jury.
The incident took place on Christmas Eve in 2024.
After receiving a report of two men attacking one another in a domestic violence incident, Middletown police were dispatched to an apartment complex on Park Lane.
When officers arrived to the residence, they knocked three times and twice identified themselves as Middletown Police Department officers, according to a press release from the Butler County Prosecutor. Gorak aimed his pistol at the cops as he opened the door.
The officer closest to the door, who had proclaimed the police presence, replied to the threat of serious harm in three tenths of a second with lethal force, killing Mr. Gorak with four rounds, according to Gmoser. The police officers on the scene immediately began resuscitation efforts, however Mr. Gorak died as a result of the gunshots he received.
An autopsy showed that Gorak was significantly drunk with alcohol—more than three times the legal driving limit—according to the prosecutor’s office. Additionally, he had a positive cannabis test result.
Regardless of sobriety, pointing a gun at a police officer while they are performing their duty will probably result in legitimate fatal action and penalties, as it did in this case, Gmoser said.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) opened an independent investigation after receiving a report about the incident from the Middletown Division of Police.
According to Gmoser, a grand jury decided a month later that Gorak’s death was warranted.
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