Pennsylvania police shooting: Officer charged in death of college student

A Pennsylvania police officer has been charged with voluntary manslaughter after shooting and killing a 22-year-old college student who had wound up at the incorrect residence late at night while waiting for friends to pick him up, stated by the prosecutor on Tuesday.Upper Pottsgrove Police Cpl. Sean Farrell, 58, is accused of Glenwood Earl Pysher IV's death in August 23, according to Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele. The officer did not have to kill Pysher during the confrontation since officer had less-lethal choices, according to the prosecuter.According to a news statement from the district attorney's office, the Montgomery County Detective Bureau looked into the shooting and examined video from Farrell's body-worn camera.According to the inquiry, "Cpl. Farrell had a taser and other less-lethal weapons on his utility belt that he did not use. The victim had his hands raised and was not carrying a weapon at the time of the shot, and the officer was safely behind a vehicle from Pysher. There was no danger from Mr. Pysher. This is not a legal use of deadly force, leading to the charge of Voluntary Manslaughter," as per the news release from Steele.Pysher's family lawyer thanked the prosecution in a statement.Attorney Ken Fulginiti stated, "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 their son's life."On Tuesday, Farrell surrendered to the Montgomery County Detectives. According to a district attorney's office representative, Farrell must surrender all firearms to the state police in order to be released after Magisterial District Judge Kathleen Rebar set bail at $75,000. On September 10, he will have a preliminary hearing.When a resident contacted 911 to report someone attempting to break into a home through the rear door, Farrell was the first officer on the scene. According to the statement, Farrell's body-worn video captured the officer moving down the driveway with his gun drawn and illuminating the path with its light.Farrell noticed Pysher on the patio of the house, close to the back door, while standing behind a car in the driveway. "Police, let me see your hands," shouted Farrell. "Hands up, hands up now, drop to the ground," he then shouted.According to the statement, Pysher was seen on camera raising his hands as he started to approach the officer and kept going in that way as the officer ordered, "Drop to the ground." "Drop to the ground," Farrell yelled once more, followed by "Stop or I'll..." However, according to the district attorney's office, Farrell fired two rounds before he could complete the sentence, striking Pysher twice in the chest.According to the announcement, Pysher was shot between 17 and 20 feet (5 and 6 meters) away from the officer.Pysher had been out at many pubs earlier in the evening to celebrate a friend's 21st birthday, according to the inquiry. Around 11 p.m., a designated driver took the party to the birthday person's house. About 30 minutes later, Pysher exited to walk half a mile to another friend's house to continue drinking, but he ended up at the incorrect residence, according to the release. Based on what his son's friends have told him, Pysher's father has stated that he thinks his son attempted to enter what he believed to be his friend's home.Glen Pysher told The Associated Press last week that "his son tried to open the doorknob and obviously startled the homeowner." According to what we know, he said, "He believed he was at his friend's house, so he said, "Hey! Open the door!"The father said that after his son sat down on the back porch and called his buddies, they noticed he was in the wrong area and started looking for him.Philip Stinson, a criminal justice professor at Bowling Green State University, maintains a national database of almost 25,000 police officer arrests since 2005.Stinson's research shows that between January 2005 and the end of July 2026, 218 local sworn police officers were charged with either murder or manslaughter in a fatal police shot that occurred while they were on duty. Although there are still a number of unresolved cases, 78 policemen have been found guilty, while 107 have been found not guilty or discharged.During that period, ten cops in Pennsylvania were accused, six of them were found guilty.According to Stinson, there have been variations in the number of cops charged over time, but those variations are statistically minor considering that there are about a thousand fatal police confrontations annually."These are ugly situations. "The facts are never simple," Stinson said. Criminal juries and grand juries appear to have similar problems. In a potentially violent street confrontation, they are hesitant to question the split-second, frequently life-or-death judgments made by an on-duty police officer.Most cops involved in deadly on-duty shootings shot an unarmed victim. Just ten of the victims in the 78 convictions had guns when they were shot.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.