A Pennsylvania police officer committed voluntary manslaughter when he shot a 22-year-old college student who had tried to enter the wrong house after a night of drinking, prosecutors said on Tuesday.
The officer, Sean Farrell, 58, of the Upper Pottsgrove Township Police Department, could face as much as 20 years in prison in the Aug. 23 killing of Glenwood Pysher IV, known as Bubba. Mr. Pysher, a collegiate baseball player, was preparing for his senior year at Saint Elizabeth University in Florham Park, N.J.
Kevin Steele, Montgomery County’s district attorney, said that Corporal Farrell came to a house in Upper Pottsgrove, about 45 miles northwest of Philadelphia, around 12:30 a.m. after a homeowner reported a man trying to break in. Body camera footage reviewed by prosecutors showed Corporal Farrell walking up the driveway with his gun drawn and Mr. Pysher standing unarmed on the patio, several feet from the back door, the authorities said.
The officer said, “Police, let me see your hands,” then yelled, “Hands up, hands up now, drop to the ground!”
Mr. Pysher raised his hands and began walking toward the officer, who again commanded Mr. Pysher to drop and stop. The officer then fired two shots.
Corporal Farrell could have used less deadly weapons, such as his Taser, Mr. Steele said in a statement.
“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,” Mr. Steele said.
Corporal Farrell did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday, and it was not clear whether he had legal representation.
Police officers are rarely charged after on-duty shootings because they have wide latitude to use force. According to Mapping Police Violence, a research collaborative, officers are charged in less than 1 percent of killings.
Most officers who are charged are not convicted. One study of police shootings from 2005 through June 2019 found that out of 104 officers charged in murder or manslaughter, a third were convicted. Prosecutors generally bring cases only when they have strong video evidence that show they did not need to use lethal force to defend themselves.
According to video footage of Mr. Pysher’s killing, which prosecutors described in a statement, Corporal Farrell told another officer who came to the scene that Mr. Pysher had charged at him and was “screaming and yelling.” But the body camera videos do not show that, prosecutors said.
Ken Fulginiti, a lawyer representing the Pysher family, said Tuesday the family was comforted by the charges, but upset that Corporal Farrell seemed to try to blame Mr. Pysher.
“Not only was he so bad and horrible that he took the life of a 22-year-old,” Mr. Fulginiti said, adding, “his first instinct is to blame someone who no longer has the power to defend himself.”
Before the shooting, Mr. Pysher had been barhopping to celebrate a childhood friend’s 21st birthday, according to accounts from friends and the criminal complaint. About 11 p.m., a parent drove Mr. Pysher and others from a bar to the home of the celebrant, friends said.
About 30 minutes later, Mr. Pysher decided to walk to the home of another friend, less than a mile away, because he wanted to keep drinking, the complaint said. He took a wrong turn and ended up at a stranger’s house.
From there, Mr. Pysher called the friend, AJ Lattanze, whose home he thought he was outside. Mr. Lattanze, who was at a bar, said in an interview that he did not recognize the home Mr. Pysher was showing him through the video call. He said he told his friend to stay put and that someone would come and get him.
On Monday, friends and family filled a funeral home for Mr. Pysher’s service. Friends remembered him as a “lovable goofball” who was constantly making people laugh and gathering people together.
He was passionate about baseball, playing catcher for his college team, and hoped to become a high school history teacher and baseball coach, his family said.
“My son was a very caring, loving kid who just wanted to help everybody,” said his father, Glenwood Pysher III. “Everybody loved him.”
