A Town of Poughkeepsie police officer will not face criminal charges for fatally shooting 36-year-old Brian Czornyj inside his family's Fair Oaks Drive home last year, after Czornyj attacked a mobile crisis worker with a samurai sword and refused police orders to drop the weapon. New York Attorney General Letitia James' Office of Special Investigation announced the decision Thursday, closing out a review that stretched more than sixteen months.
The officer who fired the fatal shots was identified in official records as Town of Poughkeepsie Police Officer John Gouger, who responded to the June 5, 2025 call alongside Officer Tiere Spruill, according to Daily Voice. As first reported by NewYorkUpstate.com, investigators concluded that criminal charges were not warranted because Czornyj was still holding the sword and had already injured two people by the time officers arrived.
A Mental Health Crisis Turns Violent
The emergency began earlier that day when a Mental Health America of Dutchess County mobile crisis team responded to the home, per the same NewYorkUpstate.com report. State investigative findings released Thursday describe Czornyj making statements about the afterlife and claiming to be the Lord before he attacked one of the crisis workers with the sword, cutting her hands, according to Daily Voice's account of the findings. His father intervened to grapple over the weapon, the report notes, and was gripping the sword's blade when a 911 caller reported the attack to police.
The call drew a coordinated multi-agency response, with the Town of Poughkeepsie Police, New York State Police, Dutchess County Sheriff's Office, and Arlington Fire Department all deployed to the Fair Oaks Drive address, the station reported in June 2025. Emergency personnel provided initial medical treatment at the scene before Czornyj was taken to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Seconds Between Entry and Gunfire
Body-worn camera footage released by the Attorney General's office in August 2025 showed Officer Gouger discharging his firearm twice at Czornyj from less than five feet away, roughly seven seconds after reaching for the sword's handle inside the home. Police had ordered Czornyj to drop the weapon and warned him he would be shot if he did not comply, per NewYorkUpstate.com's reporting on the incident, but he did not comply before the officer fired.
Why No Charges Were Filed
The case was investigated by the Attorney General's Office of Special Investigation, according to a statement from the New York State Attorney General's office.
Under New York Penal Law Article 35, prosecutors must disprove self-defense or defense of others beyond a reasonable doubt at trial. The Attorney General's office concluded prosecutors could not disprove justification beyond a reasonable doubt at trial, finding that Czornyj presented an active threat of deadly force and that the officer's use of deadly force was justified. The office's review included interviews, body camera footage, 911 calls, and police records before it reached that conclusion Thursday.
Remembering Brian Czornyj
Czornyj was a Poughkeepsie native who graduated from Ketcham High School in 2007, according to his obituary from William G. Miller Funeral Home. He earned undergraduate and master's degrees from Lehigh University. He had been living with his parents at the Fair Oaks Drive home at the time of his death.
Local Crisis Resources Still in Place
A mobile crisis team from Mental Health America of Dutchess County responded to the home before the shooting. Dutchess County also maintains a 24/7 Supportive Crisis Stabilization Center on North Road in Poughkeepsie, a voluntary walk-in facility designed to de-escalate behavioral health crises outside hospital settings, according to People USA, which notes it was among the first licensed crisis stabilization centers in New York State.
