Credited from: BBC
A Pennsylvania police officer, Cpl. Sean Farrell, has been charged with voluntary manslaughter following the shooting of 22-year-old Glenwood Earl Pysher IV, who was fatally shot on August 23 while waiting for friends outside the wrong residence. Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele stated, "This is not a legal use of lethal force," highlighting that Farrell did not need to resort to lethal measures during the encounter, given that less-than-lethal options were available to him, including a taser, which he did not utilize, according to LA Times, BBC, and India Times.
During the fatal encounter, Pysher was reported to have raised his hands in compliance with Farrell's commands as he approached the officer while standing 17 to 20 feet away. Body camera footage reveals that after shouting instructions for Pysher to "drop to the ground," Farrell fired two shots, hitting Pysher twice in the chest—an act characterized by the District Attorney's office as unnecessary and reckless, as Pysher posed no immediate threat, according to LA Times, BBC, and India Times.
Pysher had been out celebrating a friend's birthday earlier in the evening before mistakenly knocking on the back door of a residence in search of his friends. His father recounted that Pysher believed he was approaching his friend's home. After sitting on the back porch to contact his friends, he was confronted by Farrell, who arrived at the scene in response to a neighbor's 911 call reporting an attempted break-in, as detailed in accounts from LA Times, BBC, and India Times.
Following the incident, Farrell turned himself in and is currently released on a $75,000 bail. A preliminary hearing has been set for September 10, as the investigation continues to highlight the contentious nature of police use of force in the U.S., particularly in cases involving unarmed victims, as noted by LA Times, BBC, and India Times.