(ULSTER COUNTY, NY) — The family of Daniel McAlpin, a 41-year-old man who was shot and killed by New York State Police Trooper Jason Wurtz during a mental health crisis in 2022, and ECBAWM issued the following statements in response to the New York Attorney General’s decision not to bring criminal charges against the officers involved:

“For the second time, the system has failed Daniel,” said Mary McAlpin, mother of Daniel McAlpin. “First, it failed him when armed officers entered his home during a mental health crisis and shot him multiple times, even as he asked to be left alone. And now, it has failed him again — by declining to hold anyone accountable. The Attorney General’s decision sends a troubling message to families across New York: when someone needs help, they may instead face force. Daniel was our son. He was bright, kind, imaginative, and gentle. He needed care. Instead, he lost his life.”

“We categorically disagree with the Attorney General’s decision not to hold Trooper Jason Wurtz accountable for the death of Daniel McAlpin — a man who had no criminal history, was experiencing a mental health crisis, posed no threat, and urgently needed care,” said Samuel Shapiro, Partner at Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP and co-counsel to the McAlpin family. “Mr. McAlpin was alone in his own home, without any firearm, and surrounded by officers in body armor carrying high-caliber weapons. He was tased and then shot multiple times after he had already collapsed. Nothing can excuse what happened, and we are committed to working with his family to secure the justice and closure they so deeply deserve.”

The family’s lawsuit against Jason Wurtz, brought in August of 2023, is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. The family of Daniel McAlpin is represented by ECBAWM Partner Sam Shapiro, and Michael Sussman of Sussman & Associates.

To read the full press release, click here.