A police officer in Pennsylvania has been charged after he fatally shot college student Glenwood “Bubba” Pysher IV, who had the cops called on him when he went to the wrong house after a night of drinking with friends.
The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office announced on Tuesday, September 1, that police corporal Sean Farrell was charged with voluntary manslaughter in the death of Pysher, 22.
As Us previously reported, the incident took place when Pysher was on a pub crawl with his friends on August 22. The group decided to move to a nearby house, and Pysher mistakenly went to the wrong home.
The district attorney’s office said in a previous news release that officers arrived at the home around 12:30 a.m. on August 23 after receiving a 911 call about a “possible attempted break-in at a residence.” An officer then “fired at the male subject, fatally striking the subject.”
In the September 1 news release, the office said that an investigation by the Montgomery County Detective Bureau determined that the shooting was “not a legal use of force by a police officer.”
Farrell’s body-worn camera – which captured the moments leading up to the shooting – was examined amid the investigation. The footage showed Farrell, 58, walking down the driveway with a firearm and a mounted light. He positioned himself behind a car in the driveway and observed Pysher standing on the home’s cement patio near the rear door.
“Police, let me see your hands. Hands up, hands up now, drop to the ground,” Farrell said, and Pysher raised his hands in the air as he walked toward the officer.
“The officer again yelled: ‘Drop to the ground,’ as Pysher continued to walk toward him with his hands raised. Cpl. Farrell again yelled ‘Drop to the ground,’ then yelled ‘Stop or I’ll…’ but prior to finishing that command, Cpl. Farrell fired two shots, striking Pysher twice in the chest,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement.
Pysher was “17 to 20 feet away” from Farrell when he was “fatally shot.”
The statement also said that detectives recovered “two fired cartridge casings” from Farrell’s gun at the scene, and they determined that Pysher was unarmed at the time of the fatal shooting.
The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office said that under Pennsylvania law, an officer is “justified” in using deadly force “only when he believes such force is necessary to prevent death or serious bodily injury to himself or such other person” or when he believes that the suspect is “attempting to escape and possesses a deadly weapon” that will put others at risk.
“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,” District Attorney Kevin Steele said in a statement.
Steele added, “Mr. Pysher was not a threat. This is not a legal use of deadly force, leading to the charge of voluntary manslaughter.”
Farrell turned himself in to Montgomery County detectives on Tuesday, September 1, and his bail was set at $75,000. His next hearing is scheduled to take place on September 10.
It is not currently clear whether Farrell has entered a plea or retained legal counsel following his arrest.
