Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by chromas on Saturday March 30 2019, @05:58PM   Printer-friendly
from the police dept.

Man Gets 20 Years for Deadly "Swatting" Hoax:

Tyler Barriss has shown little remorse for the death of Andrew Finch.

Tyler Barriss, whose hoax call to Wichita police led to the shooting death of an innocent man, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, the Associated Press reports. The sentence in Kansas federal court is a stark reminder of the serious consequences of the deadly prank called "swatting."

The December 2017 death of Andrew Finch began with an online feud over a Call of Duty game. Casey Viner, then around 18 years old, allegedly recruited Barriss to "swat" the Wichita home of Shane Gaskill, who was about 19. Barriss called Wichita police pretending to be a deranged man with a gun holding members of his family hostage, giving what he believed was the target's address.

As Barriss expected, the police responded by dispatching a SWAT team. But Gaskill lied to Barriss about where he lived. As a result, police surrounded a home occupied by the Finch family, which had nothing to do with the online dispute.

When 28-year-old Andrew Finch opened his front door, a police officer shot him. The officer later said he saw Finch reaching for his waist and feared he had a gun. In reality, Finch was unarmed.

[...] In April, the incarcerated Barriss briefly gained access to the Internet—and he took the opportunity to demonstrate that he had learned nothing from his time behind bars.

"All right, now who was talking shit?" he tweeted on April 6, 2018. "Your ass is about to get swatted."

[...] Prosecutors decided not to charge the police officer who shot Finch.

With good behavior, he could get something like 30 months off his sentence. Something tells me he might have difficulty with that "good behavior" part.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by pipedwho on Saturday March 30 2019, @11:02PM

    by pipedwho (2032) on Saturday March 30 2019, @11:02PM (#822516)

    Except the guys who stormed in and did the actual killing.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2