Pennsylvania officer charged with voluntary manslaughter in student shooting

Upper Pottsgrove police Corporal Sean Farrell was charged Tuesday with voluntary manslaughter for shooting Glenwood Earl Pysher IV, 22, on a Montgomery County home late last week. Body-camera footage showed Farrell ordering the man to drop to the ground and, before completing the command, firing two shots that struck Pysher in the chest while his hands were raised.

Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said the officer had non-lethal options, including a taser, that were not used. > "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.

Pysher, who had been out celebrating a friend’s birthday, mistakenly went to the wrong residence after leaving a bar around 11 p.m. He reportedly tried to open a door, startled the homeowner, and then sat on the porch before his friends located him.

Attorney Ken Fulginiti, representing the family, thanked the prosecutor’s office. > "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," he said.

Farrell turned himself in and was released on $75,000 bail with a condition to surrender all weapons to state police. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10 September. The case adds to a national tally of police officers charged in on-duty shootings; data compiled by Bowling Green State University professor Philip Stinson shows 218 local officers have faced murder or manslaughter charges since 2005, with 78 convictions.