Middletown Police Department has released body camera footage from a fatal shooting incident that occurred on Christmas Eve, during which officers responded to a 911 call regarding a dispute between two men in an apartment on Park Lane, as reported by WLWT. The footage captured the moments leading up to the shooting of 50-year-old Christopher Gorak, who, according to authorities, appeared at the door with a gun in his hand and was subsequently shot by one of the responding officers.
A grand jury cleared the officer involved in the shooting last month, deeming the response to the perceived "threat of deadly harm" within the three-tenths of a second window as justifiable force, Butler County prosecutor Michael Gmoser stated, "When you come out of an aggressive situation with a firearm in your hand, under circumstances where the police have been announced, you're probably going to be confronted with a lethal response" according to an interview obtained by WLWT. The footage release marks the first officer-involved shooting since Middletown Police began using body cameras the previous summer.
Following the incident, officers attempted to provide medical assistance to Gorak, seen in the video administering CPR and attempting to stop the bleeding, as initially reported by Local12. Police Union Representative Dan Hils emphasized that officers are trained to react when a suspect points a weapon at them, explaining that shooting is often the immediate course of action in such high-risk scenarios.
Adding to the narrative, an autopsy revealed Gorak was "heavily intoxicated by alcohol more than three times," the driving legal limit, and had marijuana in his system, as reported by FOX19. Gorak's actions—opening the door while pointing a pistol at officers—were considered a significant threat, with the Butler County Prosecutor's Office stating, "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" according to their press release. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation was tasked with conducting an independent investigation into the shooting, which ultimately led to the grand jury's justification of the officer's actions.
