There will be no charges placed in the gunshot death of a Buffalo man in August 2024 in the city of Jamestown.

District Attorney Jason Schmidt, in a news release issued Tuesday, said during the early morning hours of Aug. 16, 2024, 25-year-old Corey Johnson sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the head during an altercation with other individuals in the area behind the Wine Cellar bar, a business located at 309 N. Main St. in Jamestown. He died a short time later at UPMC Hamot Medical Center in Erie, Pa.

“The incident was thoroughly investigated by Jamestown Police Department which was on scene within minutes of the call, and processed the scene with assistance from the Chautauqua County Forensics Investigation Team (FIT),” Schmidt said. “Between the two, police recovered numerous items of physical evidence, including a defaced 9mm semi-automatic handgun used in the incident, obtained multiple surveillance video recordings capturing the shooting event from different viewpoints, and identified and interviewed numerous witnesses, including those persons present before and during the altercation which resulted in Mr. Johnson’s death. From those individual pieces, we were able to review the entire event as it unfolded behind the Wine Cellar leading to the fatal shot to determine whether and to what extent criminal charges should be asserted.

“As a result of our analysis, and after careful review of all evidence developed by Jamestown Police and later analyzed by the New York State Police Forensic Lab,” Schmidt said. “I have determined that a homicide prosecution under the facts and circumstances of this shooting would run contrary to applicable law, and I will therefore not be pursuing charges in this matter.”

Schmidt says his determination was based on the facts that Johnson was the first and only person who introduced a deadly weapon into the interaction by producing a handgun from inside his clothing. Johnson then demonstrated his intent to imminently use the handgun against another individual by chasing after and repeatedly attempting to shoot that person. Johnson’s unilateral actions led to a physical struggle between the two during which Johnson was fatally shot with his own handgun.

“Under these facts, the deadly physical force provisions of New York’s self-defense/justification law provide an absolute defense to the person who may have pulled the trigger during the final struggle resulting in Mr. Johnson’s death,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt noted there has been a steady increase in the amount of illegal firearms seized and recovered by the Jamestown Police Department. In a concerted effort, the District Attorney’s Office and the Jamestown Police Department “will continue to target gun violence in our community and will hold those who perpetuate it responsible,” he said.

Jamestown Police Department Lt. Adam McKinley added “I would like to thank the Jamestown Police officers and detectives, [the] Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office, and Chautauqua County FIT members for their countless hours spent investigating this incident. I can’t say enough about the hard work that everyone continues to do on a daily basis in an effort to keep our community safe.”