An innocent man was shot dead by a police officer after a Call of Duty gamer pranked authorities into giving fake addresses of a 28-year-old father.
Andrew Finch, a 28-year-old father from Kansas was shot dead on Thursday by a police officer after a Call of Duty gamer called Swat team and tipped them about a bogus shooting incident
The call was part of a prank by a man identified as Tyler Raj Barriss going by the online handle “SWAuTistic” and known for “swatting,” a practice considered as cybercrime in which law enforcement authorities and emergency services are called to provide false information about the ongoing threatening situation such as bomb threat, murder, and abduction etc.
Moreover, pranksters provide another person’s address to the authorities leading them to raid the place and take whichever security measures possible. In this case, Barriss who had a history of playing swatting pranks called 911 to Wichita police and claimed that he committed a crime involving shooting his dad and abducting his brother and mom. He also provided his address that belonged to Andy Finch.
According to the New York Post reports, the police arrived at the scene where Finch walked out the front door. He raised and dropped his hands multiple times before an officer opened fire, killing him with one shot. The police searched the house but find four family members with no evidence of violence.
On Friday however, LAPD arrested 25-year-old Tyler Barriss for his role in the prank that resulted in the death of an innocent man. Before his arrest, Barriss gave an interview to the founder of YouTube channel DramaAlert Danial Keem and accepted his involvement but claimed he had nothing to do with Andrew’s death since he was not the one to pull the trigger.
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“The argument can be made that the police would never have showed up if I hadn’t made the call, however, I don’t believe I’m the only guilty party involved in this whole incident, considering I was contacted and, you know, almost instructed to swat, and taunted to swat.”
“I don’t think that I should not do jail time, but I don’t think I should do life or get charged with murder, that’s all. I’m not saying that I’m saying I shouldn’t do any time at all though, because admittedly yeah I was involved. So if I get caught and charged, then so be it, and I’ll do whatever time they give me. I’ll serve whatever sentence because it is what it is,” said Barriss.
Wichita deputy chief Troy Livingston told media that “The irresponsible actions of a prankster put people and lives at risk. “The incident is a nightmare for everyone involved including the family and our police department.”
According to gaming news site Dexerto, the argument began over a $1 or $2 wager over the game.
