MONTOUR FALLS, N.Y. (WETM) – A grand jury in Schuyler County has decided there is not enough evidence to bring charges in the case of a firefighter who died after a medical emergency at the NYS Fire Academy early last year.

The Schuyler County District Attorney’s Office announced that a grand jury ruled “there was insufficient evidence to warrant charges against anyone at the Fire Academy” for the death of Peyton Morse in March 2021. As a result, the criminal case is officially closed, according to the DA’s announcement.

Morse, 21 years old at the time, suffered a medical emergency and stopped breathing during a training exercise at the NYS Academy of Fire Sciences in Montour Falls. Morse was from LeFargeville and a firefighter from the City of Watertown.

He was taken to Schuyler Hospital and later flown to Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, Pa. where he died nine days later, with his wife and family beside him.

The case was later turned over to New York State Police for investigation. The DA’s announcement said that over the last three months, evidence was presented to the grand jury, which reached its decision during the last week of October.