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

[Amishman44]

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

My question is, does anyone know why the officer opened fire on him, shooting and killing him?

I agree the dirt-bag who made the initial 9-1-1 call is culpable...and should be held responsible...but what events took place at the scene (the man's house) that brought about the end result?

Lot of unknowns here... hopefully, more information (answers) are forthcoming!

 

[gifters]

Honestly, this should be prosecuted by the feds and I'm not strictly opposed to the death penalty in this case. Knowing the consequences would put this **** to an end.

 

[gifters]

Btw if lights are swarming my house I'm calling 911, give them as much information as I can and defuse the situation as much as possible before walking out in my underwear.

 

[abeguzmanmarine]

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.

+1
once again leo "fearful" when theyre the ones pointing the guns, they had him covered, seems they shouldve waited to see a threat. i am more afraid of getting shot by leo than any bad guy.

 

[jwh20]

I find it easy to put myself in the shoes of the deceased, where he goes to the door knowing he's done nothing wrong and there are these guys claiming to be the police yelling orders. How do you know how you'd react? But it's also helpful to put yourself in the place of the police. What is their mindset? Remember that they believe this is a life-or-death hostage situation with an armed badguy. So they're on edge to begin with and have every reason to believe that the guy at the door is likely to do them harm. It's a difficult situation all around and it should never have happened to begin with. The penalties for "swatting" should be severe since, as we've seen here, the consequence can also be severe. At best one man is dead and one police officer is going to have to live with what happened for the rest of his life.

It does seem to me, however, that more reconnaissance should be in order in situations like this so that you don't have a front-door standoff at potentially the wrong door! Like might someone have looked in a window or two in order to determine what's going on inside?

 

[T.Lex]

Ultimately, I keep coming back to the starting point: there's no easy answers to this problem, which is why it will be a problem for a long time to come.

We want it easy to make a 911 call because emergencies happen. It is so easy to make a 911 call that people can use it for nefarious purposes.

We want police to go all in for hostage situations because hostage situations happen. The structured, overwhelming response to those situations is necessary to maximize the effectiveness of the response.

With greater awareness of swatting, there may be a policy/SOP approach that defaults to more caution. Especially if dispatch can watch for certain traits of a swatting call, while still respecting the chance that it is a real emergency.

Frankly, if someone comes peeking in my windows, that's MORE likely to get an armed response from me than a bunch of lights outside my door. Maybe technology will allow some sort of discrete drone or something to look in the windows, but until then (which is still kinda creepy in a Blue Thunder kind of way), there just isn't a good answer.

 

[mandreko]

Why didn't the 911 operator look at the caller's number and ask why they were calling from a CA phone? There might be legit reasons for a CA phone to be calling about a situation in KS, but couldn't this information at least give dispatch and the responders the opportunity to consider the possibility of a prank?

It's significantly easier to spoof caller ID than most people think. I do it quite often for my job, where I need the recipient caller to think I'm an internal employee or an acquaintance of theirs. Or without even spoofing, you could just quickly get a number in the KS area code on Skype, or a tool similar, and make the call from there.

People inherently trust caller-id though.

 

[JettaKnight]

I'm hesitant to ask about your job.


Are you a Nigerian prince?

 

[thunderchicken]

Maybe I just hadn't payed enough attention but until this incident I can't recall
ever having heard of swatting. But it's quite distrubing that we apparently have so many people that are disconnected or crazy enough to do these things.

I understand why so many people have such big concern with police action shootings. Especially when it involved someone being shot after reaching for thier waistband or pocket etc. Seems like it happens way too often.
I appreciate hearing from LEO's who have worked the streets and who can explain their logic for why an action may have been taken. Such as Denny's explanation of action vs reaction.
I think too many people struggle to follow instructions from police. It seems that all too often police give a command and for whatever reason the citizen either partially complies or just simply ignores lawful commands and then things go sideways. I think LE training is mostly good and based on well investigated prior scenarios. Sure there's room for improvement. But I think a real problem lies in how many citizens interact with LE and seem to think they don't have to comply

 

[kickbacked]

Ive watched a few swatting videos on youtube. are there no hostage negotiators anymore? Im confused on swat tactics of busting into a house where there is a report of hostages being taken. I know it doesnt apply to this case because he answered the door, but on others you see the police swarm the room with the person still playing the game.

 

[1usmc1]

I think the police are poorly chosen and inadequately trained. In some cases SWAT is necessary, but not in most. SWAT, has become so militarized that it would appear their primary objective has become something akin to that of the military itself -to kill and destroy. Their first tactic should be the collection of information, immediately followed by knowledge, based upon that information. Their objective should be no shots fired, and instead use the knowledge against the suspected person or people, persuading them to give up. That concession aside, then they can, in most cases, play a waiting game, and run the suspect out of necessities. Time, in most cases, in on the side of LEO, so use it. ThereÂ’s no creativity in law enforcement anymore. As the saying goes, thereÂ’s more than one way to skin a cat. I see too many instances were a LEO is either exacerbating a bad situation, or simply getting their butts handed to them because theyÂ’re so poorly, and incompletely, trained. The LEO in this situation will be exonerated, and maybe the caller will be convicted of 2nd degree murder.

Yes, even in a case of mistaken identity, if a cop says hands up, err on the side of caution, and PUT YOUR DAMNED HANDS UP!

 

[T.Lex]

I think the police are poorly chosen and inadequately trained.

That's one heck of an intro line for a first post.

Welcome to INGO. I think.

 

[soupergenius]

Grandma told me not to run from FAT cops - they won't chase you, they shoot.

Why do we allow police in suburban America to react as if they are in the GAZA strip? It simply should not be the case that an American crawling on the floor in a hotel hallway or a man in the doorway of his own home can be killed for not following every detailed confusing 'Simon Says' command the police scream at him. Are we at the point now where if the police show up you should just lie down and not move and force them to come get you? If you twitch wrong some dummy will kill you. I'm pro-police but lets hold them responsible for this non-sense. They have the power to kill - they MUST learn to use it with more restraint.

 

[mcapo]

That's one heck of an intro line for a first post.

Welcome to INGO. I think.

I was just typing the same!!!

Though I do agree with the last sentence (Yes, even in a case of mistaken identity, if a cop says hands up, err on the side of caution, and PUT YOUR DAMNED HANDS UP!). Luckily we live in a country in which an erroneous arrest will be corrected quickly. Get mouthy, don't follow commands, etc. and don't be surprised when the situation heads south.

I think there is a point about tactics. I have seen a few videos of questionable tactics possible leading to a shooting. The recent hotel hallway incident comes to mind...but it is nearly impossible to form a truly complete opinion based on what is available on-line.

I just wait for BBI's analysis and accept it. :-)

 

[phylodog]

Nope....not gonna do it......

 

[T.Lex]

Hmmm... 2, nearly sequential first posts from years-old members? That's an amazing coincidence.

 

[Kutnupe14]

I think the police are poorly chosen and inadequately trained. In some cases SWAT is necessary, but not in most. SWAT, has become so militarized that it would appear their primary objective has become something akin to that of the military itself -to kill and destroy. Their first tactic should be the collection of information, immediately followed by knowledge, based upon that information. Their objective should be no shots fired, and instead use the knowledge against the suspected person or people, persuading them to give up. That concession aside, then they can, in most cases, play a waiting game, and run the suspect out of necessities. Time, in most cases, in on the side of LEO, so use it. ThereÂ’s no creativity in law enforcement anymore. As the saying goes, thereÂ’s more than one way to skin a cat. I see too many instances were a LEO is either exacerbating a bad situation, or simply getting their butts handed to them because theyÂ’re so poorly, and incompletely, trained. The LEO in this situation will be exonerated, and maybe the caller will be convicted of 2nd degree murder.

Yes, even in a case of mistaken identity, if a cop says hands up, err on the side of caution, and PUT YOUR DAMNED HANDS UP!

I hope you have your flame suit on bro, 'cause it's going to get hot in heeeerrrree. As a retired police officer, I disagree. I think the actions of bad actions in LE receive a significant amount of coverage, comparatively, which skews perception.

 

[indiucky]

Nope....not gonna do it......

Saint....

 

[mcapo]

I hope you have your flame suit on bro, 'cause it's going to get hot in heeeerrrree. As a retired police officer, I disagree. I think the actions of bad actions in LE receive a significant amount of coverage, comparatively, which skews perception.

That's is for sure!

Can you imagine what the ratio would be for the number of yearly police interactions with citizens versus a shooting incident? You would have to carry it way out to not get 100% correct action by the police.

I'm still saying the hotel hallway shooting in Arizona was tough to watch though.

 

[Bullet Bob]

I have not looked at the video and don't need to . Talk to any police officer and ask about the 3% group. These are police officers that for whatever reason should never have been cops. EVERY department has them!!! Look at all of the unarmed shootings of people trying to comply and still getting shot. The cop pulling the trigger panicked and made a fatal mistake. None of the other cops fired, why? Because it was the 3% cop that did the deed. It doesn't matter how much time on the job or otherwise. It taints all police and is not fair to competent police officers. This defense that the cop feared for his life doesn't wash. If that were the case they all should have fired. The department now has to justify or crucify. Monetary compensation is a cheap way out. How many cops can do every thing correctly when startled and orders are being barked at them? This has to end and accountability on police departments needs to be swift and just. Did anyone on this hit team even think of calling on the phone and tell the guy to come out and do not make any moves with his hands. Didn't anyone even think this might be a prank. Where is the department policy concerning verifying pranks that are, as per the FBI, 400 per year. The good will of the public will not last forever unless there is a purge of the 3% unqualified. There has to be common sense that supersedes fear in these situations.