NORRISTOWN, Pa. — An Upper Pottsgrove Township police corporal was charged Tuesday with voluntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Glenwood Earl Pysher IV, a college baseball player who prosecutors say was unarmed and had his hands raised after arriving at the wrong house. Cpl. Sean David Farrell, 58, a department member since 2005, was charged with one felony count after Montgomery County detectives reviewed his body-worn camera footage from the encounter outside a home in the 200 block of Snyder Road.
District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said Farrell turned himself in Tuesday and was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Cathleen Kelly Rebar. Bail was set at $75,000, with 10 percent required for release. Farrell must surrender all weapons to the Pennsylvania State Police before he is released.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 10. The shooting occurred about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, Aug.
- According to prosecutors and the criminal complaint, a homeowner called 911 to report a young man at the rear of the residence who appeared to be trying to break in. Farrell was the first officer to arrive. Investigators said Pysher had spent the evening celebrating a friend’s 21st birthday at area bars.
A designated driver later took the group to one friend’s house. Pysher then set out on foot for another friend’s home, family members and prosecutors said, but ended up on the back patio of the Snyder Road house. His mother, Erin Pysher, has said he was knocking and calling to be let in because he believed he was at the correct address. She said he was on the phone with friends at 12:32 a.m. and that she was told he was shot minutes later.
According to the complaint and Steele’s account of the body-camera video, Farrell walked down the driveway with his department-issued handgun drawn and its weapon-mounted light on. He took a position behind a red car and saw Pysher standing on the patio several feet from the rear door. Farrell yelled, “Police, let me see your hands,” then, “Hands up, hands up now, drop to the ground.” Prosecutors said the video shows Pysher raising his hands, which were clearly visible, and walking toward Farrell.
Farrell again ordered him to drop to the ground, then began to shout, “Stop or I’ll,” and fired two shots before finishing the sentence, according to the district attorney’s office. Both shots struck Pysher in the chest. Investigators said he was 17 to 20 feet away. Detectives recovered two spent cartridge casings from Farrell’s firearm.
No weapon was found on Pysher or at the scene. Steele said Farrell later told a backup officer that Pysher had charged him while “screaming and yelling” and would not get on the ground. Prosecutors alleged the body-camera recording does not show Pysher charging, yelling, or acting aggressively before the shots. Steele said Farrell had less-lethal options on his belt, including a Taser, and did not use them.
“At the time that these two fatal shots were fired, Mr. Pysher had his hands up. He had no weapon. He did not charge the officer or act aggressively in any way,” Steele said.
“He was apparently inebriated but was complying with police orders to put his hands up when he was fatally shot. This is not a legal use of lethal force under Pennsylvania law.” Steele said Pennsylvania law allows an officer to use deadly force only when the officer reasonably believes it is necessary to prevent death or serious bodily injury, or under limited circumstances involving a forcible felony, escape, or a deadly weapon. He said those conditions were not met.
Pysher, known as Bubba, was a Pottsgrove High School graduate and a catcher preparing for his senior season at Saint Elizabeth University in Florham Park, N.J. He had also played at Northampton Community College. His father, Glenwood Pysher III, described him as “a very caring, loving kid who just wanted to help everybody.” A funeral was held Aug.
- Ken Fulginiti, an attorney for the family, said they were grateful for the charges and called the killing “horribly tragic, preventable and reckless.” He also said the family was disturbed that Farrell’s first account blamed Pysher. “His first instinct is to blame someone who no longer has the power to defend himself,” Fulginiti said.
No public statement from an attorney representing Farrell was reported as of Tuesday evening. The New York Times reported that Farrell did not immediately respond to requests for comment and that it was not clear whether he had legal representation. Upper Pottsgrove Township officials had not publicly announced whether he remained employed, had been placed on leave, or had been terminated. Under 18 Pa.C.S. § 2503, voluntary manslaughter is a first-degree felony.
One form of the offense applies when a person intentionally or knowingly kills another while unreasonably believing the circumstances would justify the killing. A conviction carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000. First Assistant District Attorney Edward F. McCann Jr. and Assistant District Attorney Meghan Carney are assigned to prosecute the case.
Farrell has been charged.
