Man arrested in 'Call of Duty' 'swatting' hoax that led to fatal police shooting

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  • KellyinAvon

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    This is getting out of hand. A man is dead over a video game argument (he wasn't involved), LEOs thought they were going into a murder-kidnap situation.

    A 25-year-old California man was arrested in connection to an online quarrel between two “Call of Duty” gamers that prompted a hoax call and led to a man being killed by police in Kansas.

    Los Angeles police on Friday arrested Tyler Barriss, who law enforcement claimed is the “prankster” who called 911 and made up a story about a kidnapping in Wichita, ABC 7 reported.
    Barriss reportedly gave police the address he believed the other gamer lived.
    In the audio of the 911 call, the caller claimed his father had been shot in the head and that he was holding his mother and a sibling at gunpoint. The caller added that he poured gasoline inside the home and "might just set it on fire."


    The address was for the home of Andrew Finch, 28, whom police believed was not involved in any argument on “Call of Duty.”
    Wichita Deputy Police Chief Troy Livingston, speaking at a news conference, said the hoax call was a case of "swatting," in which a person makes up a false report to get a SWAT team to descend on an address.


    "Due to the actions of a prankster we have an innocent victim," Livingston said. He said no one has been arrested in connection with the hoax.
    When officers arrived at the scene, Finch opened the door for the officers. As police told him to put his hands up, Finch moved a hand toward the area of his waistband - a common place where guns are concealed. An officer, fearing the man was reaching for a gun, fired a single shot. Finch died a few minutes later at a hospital and was found to be unarmed, Livingston said.
    The officer who fired the shot, a seven-year veteran of the department, is on paid leave pending the investigation.
    Police did not disclose the name of the man shot Thursday evening but Lisa Finch, Andrew's mother, identified him. She told reporters Friday her son was not a gamer.
    "What gives the cops the right to open fire?" she asked. "That cop murdered my son over a false report in the first place."
    Livingston on Friday said investigators had made good progress tracking online leads.
    Dexerto, an online news service focused on gaming, reported that the series of events began with an online argument over a $1 or $2 wager in a "Call of Duty" game on UMG Gaming, which operates online tournaments including one involving "Call of Duty."
    "We woke this morning to horrible news about an innocent man losing his life," UMG spokeswoman Shannon Gerritzen said in an email to The Associated Press. "Our hearts go out to his loved ones. We are doing everything we can to assist the authorities in this matter." She declined to disclose other details.
    In addition to the 911 call, police also released a brief video of body camera footage from another officer at the scene. It was difficult to see clearly what happened.

    The FBI estimates that roughly 400 cases of swatting occur annually, with some using caller ID spoofing to disguise their number.
    Man arrested in 'Call of Duty' 'swatting' hoax that led to fatal police shooting | Fox News
     

    Dr.Midnight

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    This is getting out of hand. A man is dead over a video game argument (he wasn't involved), LEOs thought they were going into a murder-kidnap situation.

    A 25-year-old California man was arrested in connection to an online quarrel between two “Call of Duty” gamers that prompted a hoax call and led to a man being killed by police in Kansas.

    Los Angeles police on Friday arrested Tyler Barriss, who law enforcement claimed is the “prankster” who called 911 and made up a story about a kidnapping in Wichita, ABC 7 reported.
    Barriss reportedly gave police the address he believed the other gamer lived.
    In the audio of the 911 call, the caller claimed his father had been shot in the head and that he was holding his mother and a sibling at gunpoint. The caller added that he poured gasoline inside the home and "might just set it on fire."


    The address was for the home of Andrew Finch, 28, whom police believed was not involved in any argument on “Call of Duty.”
    Wichita Deputy Police Chief Troy Livingston, speaking at a news conference, said the hoax call was a case of "swatting," in which a person makes up a false report to get a SWAT team to descend on an address.


    "Due to the actions of a prankster we have an innocent victim," Livingston said. He said no one has been arrested in connection with the hoax.
    When officers arrived at the scene, Finch opened the door for the officers. As police told him to put his hands up, Finch moved a hand toward the area of his waistband - a common place where guns are concealed. An officer, fearing the man was reaching for a gun, fired a single shot. Finch died a few minutes later at a hospital and was found to be unarmed, Livingston said.
    The officer who fired the shot, a seven-year veteran of the department, is on paid leave pending the investigation.
    Police did not disclose the name of the man shot Thursday evening but Lisa Finch, Andrew's mother, identified him. She told reporters Friday her son was not a gamer.
    "What gives the cops the right to open fire?" she asked. "That cop murdered my son over a false report in the first place."
    Livingston on Friday said investigators had made good progress tracking online leads.
    Dexerto, an online news service focused on gaming, reported that the series of events began with an online argument over a $1 or $2 wager in a "Call of Duty" game on UMG Gaming, which operates online tournaments including one involving "Call of Duty."
    "We woke this morning to horrible news about an innocent man losing his life," UMG spokeswoman Shannon Gerritzen said in an email to The Associated Press. "Our hearts go out to his loved ones. We are doing everything we can to assist the authorities in this matter." She declined to disclose other details.
    In addition to the 911 call, police also released a brief video of body camera footage from another officer at the scene. It was difficult to see clearly what happened.

    The FBI estimates that roughly 400 cases of swatting occur annually, with some using caller ID spoofing to disguise their number.
    Man arrested in 'Call of Duty' 'swatting' hoax that led to fatal police shooting | Fox News

    In my wildest hell raising days as a kid, I would never in a million years have dared pull something as stupid as this. I just can't comprehend how someone can sit there and think something like this is cool. I'll go out on a limb and say this kids parents were a couple of gems too.
     

    MCgrease08

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    In my wildest hell raising days as a kid, I would never in a million years have dared pull something as stupid as this. I just can't comprehend how someone can sit there and think something like this is cool. I'll go out on a limb and say this kids parents were a couple of gems too.

    The idiot arrested is 25. He's no kid. He knew what he was doing.
     

    HubertGummer

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    People have no thought to how their actions may negatively affect others, or they just don't care. The world is full of selfish pieces of :poop:.

    Not sure what LEO could do different. They have to take the reports seriously.

    A side note though, if the police tell you to put your hands up, don't make a move except to pit your hands up.
     

    Dr.Midnight

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    People have no thought to how their actions may negatively affect others, or they just don't care. The world is full of selfish pieces of :poop:.

    Not sure what LEO could do different. They have to take the reports seriously.

    A side note though, if the police tell you to put your hands up, don't make a move except to pit your hands up.

    I would like to know more. Did SWAT show up in the middle of the night? How identifiable were they? If some dudes with guns showed up at my house at 1 a.m., but I couldn't identify them, I'm not sure how I would handle it, especially since I know I had no reason for anyone to be there at that time of night. Bad, bad, bad all around.
     

    amboy49

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    Still . . . . . . . . can’t put myself in the officer’s place but seems it will hard to defend the wrongful death lawsuit that is surely coming. Not a good situation - makes me ponder the military style training and equipment that is being used by SWAT teams today. My guess is that poor ( or lack of ) training was the real cause of the shooting notwithstanding the dumba$$ who placed the 911 call.
     

    KittySlayer

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    My wife said the police should have shot him in the leg.

    I reminded her of our last trip to the range shooting paper targets. What if the target is moving? What if the target is in the dark? What if the target is shooting back? What if you are stressed and concerned you or your partners may be killed? What if...?
     

    Kutnupe14

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    People have no thought to how their actions may negatively affect others, or they just don't care. The world is full of selfish pieces of :poop:.

    Not sure what LEO could do different. They have to take the reports seriously.

    A side note though, if the police tell you to put your hands up, don't make a move except to pit your hands up.

    There's probably quite a bit. I don't know about you, but at least to me, there seems to be a lot of people getting shot who were "reaching for their waistband" but found not to have a firearm. It's gotten to the point that when I hear that, I'm automatically skeptical.
     

    Kutnupe14

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    Still . . . . . . . . can’t put myself in the officer’s place but seems it will hard to defend the wrongful death lawsuit that is surely coming. Not a good situation - makes me ponder the military style training and equipment that is being used by SWAT teams today. My guess is that poor ( or lack of ) training was the real cause of the shooting notwithstanding the dumba$$ who placed the 911 call.

    None of that matters. Speaking generally, there's good decision making and bad decision making. Whether someone has military equipment, or training in military tactics makes no difference.
     

    BehindBlueI's

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    Still . . . . . . . . can’t put myself in the officer’s place but seems it will hard to defend the wrongful death lawsuit that is surely coming. Not a good situation - makes me ponder the military style training and equipment that is being used by SWAT teams today. My guess is that poor ( or lack of ) training was the real cause of the shooting notwithstanding the dumba$$ who placed the 911 call.

    Do you see a bit of irony with blaming "military style training" and then lack of training as the issue?

    And, having been through urban combat training in the military, we're not doing "military style training" as LEOs. I've yet to see anyone trained for cover fire, breaching walls, leading with grenades, etc.
     

    Thor

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    Yeah, I think if you are standing normally and are told to raise your hands they have to go by the waistband...I know a great deal of this perception is the internet effect but there seem to be too many people attempting to comply in a confusing situation getting shot while unarmed.
     

    BehindBlueI's

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    Police release ?swatting? call, video of man shot to death | The Wichita Eagle

    Video from officer behind cover is there. It's a bit grainy, but in the second run through (where they run it in slow motion and zoom in a bit) it appears:

    Guy has his hands up.
    Guy cants slightly and his hands go to his waistband.
    Guy does what looks like a two handed presentation
    Guy points at officers at the end of the presentation in a manner consistent with pointing a handgun.

    And presumably that's when he's shot, although the video stops prior to that.
     

    Denny347

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    Still . . . . . . . . can’t put myself in the officer’s place but seems it will hard to defend the wrongful death lawsuit that is surely coming. Not a good situation - makes me ponder the military style training and equipment that is being used by SWAT teams today. My guess is that poor ( or lack of ) training was the real cause of the shooting notwithstanding the dumba$$ who placed the 911 call.
    What does that even mean?
     

    Route 45

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    Here is the full audio of the 911 call:

    [video=youtube;1aynIVoY7Cg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aynIVoY7Cg[/video]
     

    Route 45

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    What does that even mean?

    I'm guessing anything more advanced that this:

    CEPmrVM.jpg
     

    Twangbanger

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    ...I don't know about you, but at least to me, there seems to be a lot of people getting shot who were "reaching for their waistband" but found not to have a firearm. It's gotten to the point that when I hear that, I'm automatically skeptical.

    I share your opinion with the above part...


    ...Speaking generally, there's good decision making and bad decision making. Whether someone has military equipment, or training in military tactics makes no difference.

    But I can also see how military experience might make a difference in decision-making, especially if it means being deployed someplace with very different rules, for a significant time during their young life. If someone spent years in a place similar to Fallujah, playing by "Fallujah rules," it's absolutely possible that can affect decision-making, in ways you think you can train around, but which the actual effectiveness might be hard to measure.

    I generally accept that ex-deployed military have a lot of characteristics which make them better law enforcement officers than the general population. But we also need to understand that job description involves the public interest, meaning that which is best for the _public_, not necessarily 100% best for employees of the city. For most of us (including police), the city you live in isn't just a place you're going to "transfer out of," once your countrymen lose interest in the current geopolitical conflict site. Our country sending quantities of folks to the sandbox might have implications for what those people are going to do for the rest of their lives, and how they do it. If they wind up in police work, after spending a significant portion of their life kicking down doors in areas of the world we no longer care about, it's possible they might need extra work to fully transition their mindset to apply in a place that we do. To a forum which professes lockstep subscription to the belief "mindset matters," this should not be controversial.

    It might have nothing to do with this specific incident. If the guy in this case made a threatening move, it's entirely possible this was a good shoot. But as a general principle, it needs to be raised & understood. The public believes things like the "Shaver hotel hallway incident" are happening "more," for whatever reason. Simply saying this is a case of "individual decision making - make his kids rich" might sound good to someone who's a city employee. But it's not a good enough answer for society when you're dealing with representatives of the Government, and the perception you have an increasing problem. Whether you accept that or not, does not matter. This is society's expectation, and it's going to steam-roll you if it's not dealt with. The public is not going to accept "individual decision making - make his kids rich" being stated over and over again in response to incidents like this, when they perceive it to be happening a lot, and that they face more danger from the police than from the criminal next door, and that there's something underlying which is driving it.
     

    Kutnupe14

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    Police release ?swatting? call, video of man shot to death | The Wichita Eagle

    Video from officer behind cover is there. It's a bit grainy, but in the second run through (where they run it in slow motion and zoom in a bit) it appears:

    Guy has his hands up.
    Guy cants slightly and his hands go to his waistband.
    Guy does what looks like a two handed presentation
    Guy points at officers at the end of the presentation in a manner consistent with pointing a handgun.

    And presumably that's when he's shot, although the video stops prior to that.

    I honestly can't tell after seeing that video. I do see him kinda a turn though. Here's my issue. Assuming the officer that shot the guy is the one we're given the perspective of the body cam, it is my opinion, that you can give a little bit more leeway in determining the intentions of the suspect, and whether or not he actually has a firearm. I've always disliked the disregarding everything in favor of the employing deadly force over a "might." IMO, that's one of the basic duties of LE... placing yourself potentially in harms way, to settle something peacefully. I think most officers observe this, as there have been plenty of times throughout an officer career that they could have employed deadly force, justifiably, but were able to avoid tragedy by some other means.
     
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