New York Closes Police Shooting Case After Mental Health Crisis

By Michele Evans / NYweeklyRecord.com / Date: 10/11/2026

Category: Police Accountability / Mental Health / Public Safety / Civil Rights

NEW YORK CITY, NY – New York’s attorney general will not charge the Town of Poughkeepsie police officer who shot and killed Brian Czornyj during a mental health emergency, closing the state’s criminal investigation while leaving larger questions about crisis response unanswered.

Czornyj, 36, died on June 5, 2025, after Officer John Gouger fired twice inside the family home. The Office of Special Investigation released its final report on October 9, 2026.

The attorney general’s office concluded that prosecutors could not disprove beyond a reasonable doubt that Gouger’s use of deadly force was justified under New York law. That is the standard for a criminal case. It is not a finding that every part of the response was the only possible option or that the crisis system worked as intended.

According to the state report, Czornyj’s father had asked a mobile crisis team from Mental Health America of Dutchess County to help his son. Team members told investigators that Czornyj made concerning statements, spoke about the afterlife and described himself as the Lord before retrieving a sword.

The report says Czornyj swung the sword at a crisis worker, cutting her hand, and injured his father during the struggle that followed. His mother called 911. She reported that her husband and a crisis worker were bleeding and that her son needed to be contained.

Body-camera footage reviewed by investigators showed Gouger and Officer Tierre Spruill entering with their guns drawn. Czornyj held the sword by its grip while his father held the blade. His father asked officers to handcuff him.

The encounter moved in seconds. Gouger repeatedly ordered Czornyj to drop the sword and warned that he would shoot. The report says Gouger tried to grab the weapon, then fired twice when Czornyj did not let go. Officers administered CPR and other medical aid. Czornyj was pronounced dead at Vassar Brothers Medical Center at 3:04 p.m.

Spruill carried a Taser and told Gouger that he had a less-lethal option. Spruill told investigators he holstered the Taser and reached for his firearm when he saw how close the sword was to his partner. Gouger was not carrying a Taser. He told investigators that department policy required only one officer on a responding team to have one.

The Office of Special Investigation reviewed body-camera video, 911 calls, police records and interviews with officers and civilian witnesses. It found that Gouger could reasonably believe deadly force was necessary to protect Czornyj’s father, the officers and others in the home.

The medical examiner classified the death as a homicide caused by police gunfire. In death investigations, homicide describes death caused by another person. It does not by itself establish a crime.

The state report names the officer, reconstructs the shooting and explains why no prosecution will follow. It makes no policy recommendations.

That omission matters because the fatal encounter began as a request for mental health assistance. A civilian crisis team reached the home first. The team could not safely contain the emergency, and police arrived after two people had already been injured. Within moments of entering, an officer fired.

The report answers the legal question assigned to the attorney general: whether criminal charges could be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. It does not assess whether earlier intervention could have prevented the crisis, whether officers should change their approach when a family member is physically holding a weapon with the person in distress, or whether every frontline officer responding to such calls should carry a less-lethal device.

Those are public-safety questions, not accusations of criminal conduct. They remain after the case is closed.

Czornyj’s death exposed the last, dangerous handoff in New York’s crisis-response chain. The state found no prosecutable crime. The public still deserves to know what the system learned.