NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania police officer who fatally shot a 22-year-old college student, who had ended up at the wrong house late at night and was waiting for friends to pick him up, has been
charged with voluntary manslaughter, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said Upper Pottsgrove Police Cpl. Sean Farrell, 58, is charged in the Aug. 23 death of Glenwood Earl Pysher IV. The prosecutor said the officer had less-than-lethal options and did not need to resort to shooting Pysher during the encounter.
The Montgomery County Detective Bureau investigated the shooting and reviewed footage 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.
The attorney for Pysher's family issued a statement thanking the prosecutor.
“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,” the family's attorney, Ken Fulginiti, said in a statement.
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.
Pysher was 17 to 20 feet (5 to 6 meters) from the officer when he was shot, the release says.
