Suspect in deadly Kansas “swatting” hoax charged with manslaughter

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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.

 

But the intended target of the attack lied about his address, providing the address of the Finch residence instead of his own. That's how police ended up in a standoff with Finch, who had nothing to do with the online dispute.

 

"I heard my son scream, I got up, and then I heard a shot," said Lisa Finch, the mother of shooting victim Andrew Finch, in a video interview with the Wichita Eagle.

 

"They call it swatting," she added. "I didn't even know it was a thing."

 

"I love swatting kids who think that nothing's going to happen," SWAuTistic said in a YouTube interview conducted after Finch's death.

 

The arrest and charging of Barriss indicates that authorities believe he is SWAuTistic. Barriss is also accused of making a very similar call to police in Calgary a week before the Wichita shooting—though thankfully nobody died as a result of that call. He also pled no contest to calling in a bomb threat in Glendale, California, in 2015.

 

Court records show that in addition to the manslaughter charge, Kansas officials have charged Barriss with giving a false alarm and interference with law enforcement. The Kansas prosecutor in charge of the case told the Los Angeles Times that Barriss could face more than 11 years in prison if convicted of these charges.

 

An attorney for the Finch family has called for the criminal prosecution of the police officer who fired the fatal shot. But we've seen no sign authorities are planning to grant that request.

 

Swatting is a real problem in the gaming world. One member of Congress has even proposed legislation to combat it.

 

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