A Pennsylvania police officer has been charged with voluntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old college student who mistakenly approached the wrong house after an evening of drinking, prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Sean Farrell, 58, a corporal with the Upper Pottsgrove Township Police Department, faces up to 20 years in prison for the death of Glenwood Pysher IV, a collegiate baseball player preparing to begin his senior year at Saint Elizabeth University in Florham Park, New Jersey. The incident occurred in Upper Pottsgrove, approximately 45 miles northwest of Philadelphia, in the early hours of August 23.

According to Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele, Farrell responded shortly after midnight to a 911 call from a homeowner reporting a man attempting to break into their residence. Body camera footage reviewed by prosecutors shows Farrell approaching the property with his firearm drawn as Pysher, who was unarmed, stood several feet from the back door on the patio.

Video evidence indicates the officer issued commands for Pysher to show his hands and to drop to the ground. The 22-year-old raised his hands and began walking toward Farrell before being shot twice. Prosecutors contend that the officer could have employed less lethal options, such as his Taser, and that Pysher posed no threat while keeping his hands raised.

District Attorney Steele stated, “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.”

Following the shooting, Farrell reportedly told another responding officer that Pysher had charged at him while shouting, but prosecutors say the body camera footage does not support that claim.

Farrell has not responded to requests for comment.

Legal experts note that charges against officers for on-duty shootings are rare due to the broad discretion law enforcement is granted in the use of force. Data from a research collaboration monitoring police violence indicates that fewer than 1 percent of officers involved in fatal shootings face charges. Moreover, convictions are uncommon, with only about one-third of charged officers convicted of murder or manslaughter between 2005 and 2019.

Pysher’s family attorney, Ken Fulginiti, expressed mixed emotions about the charges, saying the family was comforted by them but troubled by the officer’s attempt to shift blame onto Pysher. “Not only was he so bad and horrible that he took the life of a 22-year-old,” Fulginiti said, “his first instinct is to blame someone who no longer has the power to defend himself.”

According to friends and the criminal complaint, Pysher had been celebrating a childhood friend’s 21st birthday by barhopping. After being driven home around 11 p.m., he left again approximately 30 minutes later to visit another friend less than a mile away. It was during this walk that he mistakenly arrived at the wrong residence.

Family and friends gathered at a funeral service on Monday to remember Pysher as a “lovable goofball” with a passion for baseball and a goal of becoming a high school history teacher and baseball coach. His father, Glenwood Pysher III, described him as “a very caring, loving kid who just wanted to help everybody.”