The 911 call was fake but the bullet was very real.
Investigators and prosecutors in Kansas and California, and with the federal government are trying to untangle the strands of a swatting case that ended with a police officer fatally shooting a 28-year-old father of two standing in his front door.
Swatting is usually done by computer hackers, gamers or people skilled in online and smartphone communications as a prank. They make a false report of a serious crime in progress, resulting in police making a major show of force on innocent, unsuspecting people.
The fatal swatting case started Thursday when a man called the 911 center in Wichita, Kansas, and said he'd shot his father and was holding his mother, sister and brother hostage inside a house, authorities said.
Police didn't know the call was a hoax, having originated 1,400 miles away in the Los Angeles area. They went to the house in Wichita at an address they were given, and that's where Andrew Thomas Finch was shot to death. Police said an officer shot Finch, who was not armed, after he moved his hands to his waistline.
Many charges possible
Tyler Barriss, 25, was arrested Friday in Los Angeles in connection with the Wichita incident on a fugitive warrant by Wichita police, said Los Angeles Police Officer Mike Lopez. Authorities have not said why they took Barris into custody and what charges, if any, will be filed against Barriss, nor have they said what led to his arrest. They have not publicly identified him as the caller or said if others may be charged.
Authorities said he'd been convicted of phoning in multiple bomb threats to a Los Angeles television station in 2015. Sources have told CNN he was active in the gaming community. Efforts to determine whether Barriss has an attorney were not successful Saturday.
One problem in prosecuting swatting cases is that many are perpetrated by juveniles as a prank or joke, and it's difficult to prove they had an intent to cause harm.
from cnn
See what too much play have caused
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ReplyDeleteXhlrted the person who was shot was not the person who prank called the police. Please read before jumping into conclusions. He was just an innocent man who had no idea what was happening.
ReplyDelete