I had written about the killing of Andrew Finch but the quick summary is this: Some online gamers got mad at another plater and contacted a third asshole who specialized in Swatting people for a fee. The “expert” made a fake 911 call to the wrong address and police ended up shooting Andrew Finch who not only had nothing to do with the online game, he was not even into games. The investigation ledt to the culprits, including one Tyler Raj Barriss (the “expert SWATter”) who basically said he did not feel remorse for his actions.
A Los Angeles man accused of making a hoax phone call that led to the death of an innocent man in Wichita, Kansas, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter. 25-year-old Tyler Barriss was arrested in Los Angeles late last month, and authorities there extradited him to Kansas. He made his first appearance in a Kansas courtroom on Friday, court records show.
Authorities believe that Barriss made a hoax phone call that sent police to the home of an innocent man, Andrew Finch, on December 28. Finch opened the door with his hands up. But when he briefly lowered his hands toward his waistband, a police officer shot him, believing that Finch could be reaching for a gun.
The incident appears to have originated with an online feud over a $1.50 Call of Duty bet. One of the parties to that dispute reportedly approached online user SWAuTistic, who had a reputation for initiating “swatting” pranks against online gamers. SWAuTistic called the Wichita police, pretending to be a deranged man who had already shot his father and threatened to shoot other members of his family.
Suspect in deadly Kansas “swatting” hoax charged with manslaughter
Barris can face up to 11 years in prison, not enough in my opinion. At least it may serve as deterrent for future idiots to think twice about being whiny losers .
If you feel like reading the whole indictment, just follow the link.
It’s good to see a criminal charge, but that particular charge makes no sense. “involuntary”? WTF?
The obviously sensible charge would be murder, since the action in question was voluntary and premeditated.
Similarly, any SWATter where the victim survives should face, as a minimum, a charge of attempted murder, plus of course assault & battery if the victim was injured.
We should check the definition of Manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter to see why the difference. Probably is the amount of reckless disregard they can prove?
I’m glad to hear he’s being prosecuted, but I agree that 11 years is way too little.
Good. I hope they throw the entire kitchen at the dbags.
I actually saw a billboard off of a local highway that was a warning against “SWATing” people. I didn’t realize it had gotten so bad.
And both of the loser gamers are charged with (among other things) conspiracy and obstruction (they deleted messages they sent to each other).
Nothing for the police officers involved? I’m glad the jerkwad is getting held responsible, believe me, but are we really to the point where we’re absolving police overreacting which resulted in his death? Are we just saying that “Well, you’re dead if you get SWATted because that’s just how it’s gonna go down, but the good thing is the guy who called on you is gonna go to jail!” Slapping a bandaid on this isn’t going to be much solace. People SWAT others because they know death or at least some kind of bodily injury will result due to police actions. It’s kinda the point. We need to attack this from both sides, and roll back the police response tactics. We’re the ones that pushed them to react this way, and we can push them back the same way. But we need to do it soon.
Great point. If kicking in the door and charging in with flash-bangs and M16s isn’t a violation of the Constitutional definition of what constitutes a legal search, I don’t know what could ever be. Where is the “oath or affirmation” and the judge’s signature on it?
The fact that there are “expert “SWATers” that get paid for this is very disturbing. Somehow I suspect prison won’t be much fun for this (dare I say) animal.
Murder for hire. Death penalty.