Evidence in the incident, which was captured on body cameras and investigated by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, was presented to the grand jury last week by Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser.
“(The grand jury) determined that no indictment alleging criminal conduct against any involved officer should be issued and that the death of Christopher Gorak was justified,” Gmoser said in a statement released Wednesday.
Middletown officers arrived, knocking on the apartment door three times announcing police presence. After the third knock, Gorak opened the door “holding a pistol and aiming in the direction of two of the responding police officers,” according to Gmoser.
“In three tenths of one second that threat of deadly harm was responded to with lethal force by the officer closest to the door and who had announced police presence resulting in the death of Mr. Gorak by four shots being fired by the officer,” the prosecutor said in the statement.
Gmoser said the investigation indicates, Gorak “was heavily intoxicated by alcohol more than three times the legal limit for motor vehicle operation and tested “positive” for cannabinoids (marijuana).”
“The death is tragic, having initially begun by a reported altercation between father and son, but it is nevertheless instructive on the lethal consequences when interacting with police with a firearm,” Gmoser said. “In the United States where gun ownership is more common than not and mind-altering substances are more freely available and subject to abuse, citizen attention must be given to the lethal consequences of aggressive interaction with police while armed and intoxicated. Pointing a firearm at a police officer in the performance of his or her duties in any event regardless of sobriety will likely be met with justifiable lethal force and consequences as it was in this instance.”
One officer was placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation
This is the third police-involved shooting in Middletown since February 2023.
In April 2023, Middletown police responded to the same apartment complex when they were shot at by a suspect. They returned fire and hit the suspect, wounding the man. Kyle Kellum recovered, was indicted for felonious assault involving a police officer, but found to be not guilty by reason of insanity following a bench trial in common pleas court.
In February 2023, Middletown police shot and killed a man who pointed a weapon at them in the parking lot of the Walmart on Towne Boulevard.
No charges were filed against the two Middletown officers in the deadly shooting.
The officers’ use of deadly force in the Feb. 25 shooting of 47-year-old Victor Lykins was deemed reasonable by the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office, Prosecutor David Fornshell announced after reviewing investigation results.
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