Family demands answers after fatal police shooting of college baseball player

A Pennsylvania mother is demanding answers after a police officer fatally shot her 22-year-old son, a college baseball player who his family says was unarmed, after he mistakenly went to a stranger’s house believing it belonged to a friend.

Glenwood “Bubba” Pysher IV was killed early Sunday in Upper Pottsgrove Township, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele’s office confirmed. The office said a 911 call came in at 12:29 a.m. reporting a possible break-in at a home on Snyder Road, and that officers arrived to find a man in the rear of the residence. An “encounter” followed, and police shot and killed him, the DA’s office said.

Mr. Pysher’s mother, Erin Pysher, said her son had been out with friends celebrating a birthday and mistakenly went to the home believing it belonged to a friend. She told Fox News she has no idea what led the officer to conclude deadly force was necessary against a son who, she said, “has never been in trouble.”

Ms. Pysher had dropped her son off with friends at a Pottstown bar to celebrate another friend’s 21st birthday. After the bar, the group headed to a friend’s house to continue the night, but Mr. Pysher and the others eventually split up, and he set out on foot alone, according to his mother.

Walking in the dark after several drinks, Mr. Pysher missed a turn and ended up at the wrong address on Snyder Road, banging on the back door and calling out to be let in, thinking it was his friend’s home, his mother said. Someone inside the home, unaware of the mistake, called 911 to report a possible break-in.

Ms. Pysher told ABC News that her son “made a wrong turn and went to the wrong house” after getting separated from the group in the dark.

Based on her son’s phone records, Ms. Pysher told CBS News he was talking with friends at 12:32 a.m., and she believes police had arrived and shot him by around 12:35 a.m., a timeline in which she said officers made no attempt at non-lethal force first. She said her son was carrying only a cellphone and a backpack.

Surveillance cameras at the property captured the encounter, according to 6abc, and that footage is reportedly part of the ongoing investigation, though the station said it was not given access to the recording.

Mr. Pysher’s father, Glenwood Pysher III, told CBS News he wants answers: “I just want things to be done right. I want to know the facts.” He added that his son was well-liked in the community and that no one could believe the shooting happened to a young man who never caused anyone harm.

Fox News reported that the officer involved has been placed on administrative leave. Otherwise, the department has released no details about the shooting or the officer’s identity, referring questions to the district attorney’s office, according to NBC10 Philadelphia and ABC News. The Montgomery County Detective Bureau is investigating under the county’s standard protocol for officer-involved shootings, and the DA’s office says it will release findings once the investigation concludes.

Mr. Pysher, a Lower Pottsgrove native, had transferred through several schools during his college baseball career, including Francis Marion University, Northampton Community College and Holy Family University, before landing at Saint Elizabeth University in New Jersey, where he was set to begin his senior season as a catcher, according to NBC10 Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Inquirer. He was due to return to campus the day he died and had planned to become a history teacher and baseball coach after graduation.

Friends and family have described Mr. Pysher as easygoing and devoted to his family. A GoFundMe organized by family friend Anthony Napoli to help with funeral costs had raised more than $29,000 toward a $40,000 goal from more than 430 donations as of Wednesday.

Erin Pysher told Fox News her son was a carefree, loving sweetheart whose absence has left an enormous void in the family’s life, adding that she cannot think of a better way to describe him than simply the best kid she could have asked for.