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posted by takyon on Saturday December 30 2017, @04:39AM   Printer-friendly
from the yellow-stripe-down-the-back-of-the-uniform dept.

From the NY Daily News (and covered almost everywhere):

A Kansas man shot to death by police earlier this week was the victim of a misdirected online prank known as "swatting," according to social media chatter.

The victim, identified as Andrew Finch, was gunned down on Thursday night after cops responded to his Wichita home amid a false report that he had shot his father to death and was holding his mother, brother and sister hostage.

A responding officer fatally shot Finch, 28, when he came to the front door, Wichita deputy police chief Troy Livingston said during a press conference. Livingston declined to comment on what triggered the officer to open fire and would not say whether Finch was armed.

Police briefing (10m8s). Body camera footage (53s).

I'm speechless.

takyon: The swatting was quickly linked to a dispute between two Call of Duty players:

On Twitter, more than a dozen people who identified themselves as being in the gaming community told The Eagle that a feud between two Call of Duty players sparked one to initiate a "swatting" call. After news began to spread about what happened Thursday night, the people in the gaming community, through Twitter posts, pointed at two gamers.

"I DIDNT GET ANYONE KILLED BECAUSE I DIDNT DISCHARGE A WEAPON AND BEING A SWAT MEMBER ISNT MY PROFESSION," said one gamer, who others said made the swatting call. His account was suspended overnight.

According to posts on Twitter, two gamers were arguing when one threatened to target the other with a swatting call. The person who was the target of the swatting gave the other gamer a false address, which sent police to a nearby home instead of his own, according to Twitter posts. The person who was to be the target of the swatting sent a Tweet saying, "Someone tried to swat me and got an innocent man killed." [...] Dexerto, a online news service focused on gaming and the Call of Duty game, reported the argument began over a $1 or $2 wager over the game.

Update: 911 Call from suspect (4m58s).

Brian Krebs conversed with the apparent suspect over Twitter.


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by SpockLogic on Saturday December 30 2017, @07:34PM (3 children)

    by SpockLogic (2762) on Saturday December 30 2017, @07:34PM (#615932)

    GUNS, GUNS, GUNS.

    The reaction of the police is a direct result of the moronic gun culture in this country. There are so many guns out there the police have to assume they are facing an armed adversary and they shoot first in self preservation. It's still murder.

    1. More guns = more gun violence.

    2. More guns = more dead Americans.

    3. More guns = more profits for gun manufacturers.

    Only #3 counts.

    The problem is GUNS.

    --
    Overreacting is one thing, sticking your head up your ass hoping the problem goes away is another - edIII
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 31 2017, @12:34AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 31 2017, @12:34AM (#616025)

    >"The reaction of the police is a direct result of the moronic gun culture in this country."

    No, the reaction of the police was the direct result of being told that an armed man had shot someone and was holding two others hostage.

    • (Score: 2) by Demena on Sunday December 31 2017, @07:51AM

      by Demena (5637) on Sunday December 31 2017, @07:51AM (#616099)

      It was still an unacceptable reaction. Had the call been genuine then the person answering the door would be more likely to be a hostage than perpetrator.

  • (Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Wednesday January 03 2018, @10:13PM

    by Anal Pumpernickel (776) on Wednesday January 03 2018, @10:13PM (#617385)

    There are so many guns out there the police have to assume they are facing an armed adversary and they shoot first in self preservation.

    They don't have to assume any such thing. Cops should take risks to avoid killing innocent people. Yes, that means they will actually have to put their lives on the line, but that's their job. If they don't like that, they shouldn't be cops.

    Also, either guns are legal or they are not. You can't shoot people merely for owning guns. Stop blaming guns for this and start blaming hyper-aggressive cops.