A Pennsylvania police officer was charged Tuesday with voluntary manslaughter for last week’s fatal shooting of a college student who was looking for his friends late at night and went to the wrong house. Police body camera video reviewed by investigators showed the officer yelled: “Drop to the ground,” then: “Stop or I’ll ...”. Before he finished the sentence, he fired two shots at the man who was unarmed and had his hands in the air.
He hit 22-year-old Glenwood Earl Pysher IV twice in the chest, killing him. The officer, Upper Pottsgrove police Cpl Sean Farrell, had less-than-lethal options and did not need to resort to shooting Pysher, said Kevin Steele, the Montgomery county district attorney Kevin Steele, at a news conference. 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. This is not a legal use of deadly force, leading to the charge of Voluntary Manslaughter,” Steele said in a news release. An attorney for Pysher’s family issued a statement thanking the prosecutor.
Farrell turned himself in to the Montgomery county detectives on Tuesday. Magisterial district judge Cathleen Rebar set bail at $75,000, and Farrell must turn in all weapons to the state police as a condition of his release, a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office said. He has a preliminary hearing set for 10 September.
Farrell was the first officer on the scene after a resident called 911 to report someone trying to break into the back door of a home. Farrell’s body-worn camera showed the officer walking down the driveway with his gun drawn, using its light to illuminate the way, the release says. 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.
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