A Pennsylvania police officer who shot and killed a 22-year-old college student after the young man mistakenly went to the wrong house late at night and waited there for friends to pick him up has been charged with voluntary manslaughter, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said Upper Pottsgrove Police Cpl. Sean Farrell, 58, faces the charge in the Aug. 23 death of Glenwood Earl Pysher IV. Steele said Farrell had less-than-lethal tools available and should not have used deadly force during the encounter.
The Montgomery County Detective Bureau handled the investigation into the police shooting and examined video from Farrell’s body-worn camera, the district attorney’s office said in a news release.
“The investigation found that Cpl. Farrell had less-than-lethal options on his utility belt that he did not employ, including a taser. At the time of the shooting, the officer was a safe distance from Pysher behind a car, and the victim had his hands in the air and did not possess any type of weapon. Mr. Pysher was not a threat. This is not a legal use of deadly force, leading to the charge of Voluntary Manslaughter,” Steele said in a news release.
An attorney representing Pysher’s family released a statement expressing appreciation for the prosecutor’s actions.
“The family is grateful for the work of the Montgomery County District Attorney’s office and they are looking forward to justice in this horribly tragic, preventable and reckless conduct that took the life of their son,” attorney Ken Fulginiti said.
Farrell surrendered Tuesday to Montgomery County Detectives. Magisterial District Judge Kathleen Rebar set bail at $75,000, and as a condition of release, Farrell is required to turn over all weapons to Pennsylvania State Police, a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office said. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 10.
Farrell was the first officer to arrive after a resident called 911 to report someone attempting to break into the back door of a home. According to the release, his body-worn camera video showed him walking down the driveway with his gun drawn, using the weapon’s light to see ahead.
Standing behind a car in the driveway, Farrell saw Pysher on the home’s patio, near the back door. Farrell yelled, “Police, let me see your hands.” Then he yelled, “Hands up, hands up now, drop to the ground.”
Pysher is seen on video raising his hands as he began walking toward the officer and continuing to walk in that direction as the officer yelled, “Drop to the ground,” the release said. Farrell again yelled, “Drop to the ground,” then yelled, “Stop or I’ll…” But before he finished the sentence, Farrell fired two shots, hitting Pysher twice in the chest, the district attorney’s office said.
Pysher was 17 to 20 feet (5 to 6 meters) from the officer when he was shot, the release says.
The investigation found that Pysher had been out at several bars earlier in the evening to celebrate a friend’s 21st birthday. A designated driver drove the group to the home of the person whose birthday it was around 11 p.m., and Pysher left about half an hour later to walk half a mile to another friend’s house to keep drinking but ended up at the wrong house, the release says.
Pysher’s father has said he believes, based on what his son’s friends have told him, that his son tried to enter what he thought was his friend’s house.
“He tried to open the doorknob and obviously startled the homeowner,” Glen Pysher told The Associated Press last week. “From what we understand, he announced, ‘Hey! Open the door!’ because he thought he was at his friend’s house.”
His son then sat down on the back porch and contacted his friends, who realized he was in the wrong place and set out to find him, the father said.
