Officer charged after shooting college student at wrong address
Officer charged with voluntary manslaughter for shooting unarmed student at wrong address during mistaken break-in response.
Event / Security
Montgomery County Police Officer Charged
Montgomery County police officer Sean Farrell charged with voluntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of college student Glenwood Earl Pysher IV, who attended the wrong address.
2 reported locations
Daily activity
1 articles0 articles
2026-09-02 to 2026-11-07 · UTC publication dates
Coverage begins 2 Sept, 01:16 UTC
Follow the documented timeline or explore the related reporting.
What happened
Police responded to reported break-in at wrong address
Upper Pottsgrove police were called around 12:30 a.m. on August 23 to a home on Snyder Road after a resident reported loud noises and a man attempting to break in through the rear entrance. The homeowner did not know the person at the door was a college student who had simply gone to the wrong address.
Officer failed to use non-lethal force options
Body camera footage showed that Officer Farrell did not attempt to use a Taser or other less-lethal options available on his utility belt despite having them available. Farrell fired both shots before finishing his verbal command to Pysher, who was between 17 and 20 feet away and posed no threat.
Officer took cover behind car while shooting unarmed suspect
Body camera footage documented that Officer Farrell took cover behind a red car in the driveway while Pysher was standing on a cement patio several feet from the home's back door with his hands raised. Farrell maintained a safe distance behind the vehicle when he fired both fatal shots.
Montgomery County police officer charged with voluntary manslaughter
Upper Pottsgrove Police Corporal Sean Farrell, 58, was charged with voluntary manslaughter by Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele on Tuesday for the fatal shooting of Glenwood Earl Pysher IV on August 23. The investigation determined that Farrell's use of deadly force was not justified under Pennsylvania law.
College student shot by police after going to wrong house
Glenwood Earl Pysher IV, a 22-year-old college student at St. Elizabeth University in New Jersey, was fatally shot twice in the chest by Officer Sean Farrell on August 23 around 12:30 a.m. Pysher had mistakenly arrived at the wrong home on Snyder Road in Upper Pottsgrove after a night out celebrating a friend's 21st birthday. He was unarmed with his hands raised when shot.
Read the coverage
2 alternative perspectives