An innocent 28-year-old man was shot dead by the Wichita SWAT team because of a swatting prank. Andrew Finch answered his door to find the SWAT team facing him. Police say Finch made a movement towards his waist which prompted one officer to fire one round, which killed Finch. It has been confirmed that Finch was unarmed. The officer that killed Finch is on paid leave as the department investigates further. Meanwhile, the man who called in the swatting prank has been arrested in California. Police say 25-year-old Tyler Barriss is the person who called in the swatting prank. Police released the audio from the 911 call allegedly made by Barriss, you can hear it below.
Swatting has been used by people who have gotten into disagreements online, often times it doesn’t end well. In this case, it appears that Barriss had some sort of argument with another gamer while playing Call of Duty.
It appears that those responsible might have been two Call of Duty players who were competing in a $1.50 money match last night, based on Twitter screencaps shared among the Call of Duty community. After the conclusion of this match, two players on the losing team began arguing. The first player, “Miruhcle,” apparently sent an address to the second, “Baperizer,” essentially egging them on. And the second player apparently sent that address to a third party known for swatting. But it appears that address didn’t belong to either player—it belonged to an unrelated man.
Swatting is reporting a fake crime to police with the intent of getting police SWAT teams to respond to the target home. It’s an extreme path to take over an online game but sadly many people resort to such tactics.
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