Pennsylvania Officer Charged With Manslaughter After Shooting Unarmed College Student Who Knocked on Wrong Door

Upper Pottsgrove Township Police Cpl. Sean Farrell, 58, was charged Tuesday with voluntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of 22-year-old college student Glenwood "Bubba" Pysher IV, according to Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele.

The shooting happened August 23. Pysher had been out with friends celebrating a 21st birthday at a bar in Upper Pottsgrove, about 45 miles northwest of Philadelphia, according to The Independent. When the group decided to move the party to a friend's house, Pysher walked there alone and knocked on the wrong door.

His mother, Erin Pysher, told ABC News her son had "a few drinks" and got mixed up in the dark. The couple inside the home, startled by the knocking, called 911 at 12:32 a.m., according to WBAL.

Farrell was the first officer on scene. Body-camera footage showed him walking down the driveway with his gun already drawn, using the weapon's light to see, according to WBAL. He found Pysher on the back patio and yelled, "Police, let me see your hands," then "Hands up, hands up now, drop to the ground."

According to the criminal complaint, Pysher raised his hands and walked toward Farrell as the officer kept yelling for him to get on the ground. Farrell then shouted "Stop or I'll—" and fired twice before finishing the sentence. Pysher was struck twice in the chest and was 17 to 20 feet away at the time, the DA's office said.

Steele said Pysher was unarmed, compliant, and never charged at the officer.

"At the time these two fatal shots were fired, Mr. Pysher had his hands up," Steele said at a Tuesday news conference, according to ABC News. "He had no weapon. He did not charge the officer or act aggressively in any way. He was not a threat to the homeowners who were inside their residence."

The DA's office says body-cam audio captured Farrell telling another officer afterward that Pysher "f*ing charged me, screaming and yelling and wouldn't get down on the ground," per the complaint quoted by CBS News. Steele told reporters that account doesn't match the footage.

"The body-worn camera video does not depict Pysher charging and does not depict yelling or screaming prior to the shooting," Steele said, according to ABC News.

Steele also noted Farrell was carrying a taser and a baton that night and used neither. "The investigation found that Cpl. Farrell had less-than-lethal options on his utility belt that he did not employ," Steele said. The Montgomery County Coroner's Office ruled the death a homicide, the Inquirer reported.

The other side of it

Farrell's attorney, Michael Gottlieb, told the arraigning judge his client is "a decorated police officer" who "was out there doing his duty" and had no ill will toward Pysher, according to the Inquirer. A lone officer responding at night to a reported break-in in progress encounters an unknown, intoxicated man on a stranger's back patio with seconds to make a life-or-death call with incomplete information. Farrell has served with the department since 2005 and is a third-generation officer, the Inquirer reported.

Split-second decisions by officers responding to reported break-ins are inherently high-stress, and courts have long given weight to what an officer reasonably perceived in the moment, not just what hindsight later reveals. But Steele's charging decision rests specifically on the claim that the video contradicts Farrell's own account of the encounter, that Pysher was compliant with his hands up, and that non-lethal tools were available and unused. Steele called it plainly: "This is not a legal use of lethal force."

Farrell was arraigned Tuesday afternoon. District Judge Cathleen Kelly Rebar set bail at 10% of $75,000 but ordered Farrell held until he surrenders his personal firearms, the Inquirer reported. He has been placed on administrative leave.

The Pysher family's attorney, Ken Fulginiti, said the family is "grateful for the work of the Montgomery County District Attorney's office" and is "looking forward to justice," according to WBAL.

A few outlets got basic facts wrong in the days right after the shooting, before Tuesday's charges were filed. Breitbart's initial report identified the victim as "Glynn Pysher" and described him as a "NJ College Athlete," when he had recently transferred to Saint Elizabeth University in New Jersey to play baseball. That piece predates any mention of charges against Farrell.

Pysher, known to friends and family as "Bubba," was days from starting his senior year and had planned to teach history after college, according to Fox News. His funeral was held Monday, one day before Farrell was charged.

Farrell's case is set for a preliminary hearing on September 10, according to CBS News, where a judge will decide whether prosecutors have enough evidence to proceed to trial on the voluntary manslaughter charge.