Last month, an online dispute started regarding a wagered Call of Duty match that resulted in the death of a 28-year-old Kansas man after a faked call led a SWAT team to the man’s house. Los Angeles police department arrested Tyler Barriss, the man that is responsible for making the call, and now this week, he has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and two other counts.
New report from The Wichita Eagle tells us that Barriss made his first appearance in courtroom on Friday, where he was charged with involuntary manslaughter, interference with law enforcement and causing false alarm. He will now appear in court later this month. District Attorney Marc Bennett said that a decision hasn’t been reached regarding the role of the Call of Duty player who provided Barriss with Finch’s address. The investigation regarding the officer that killed Finch is still under review.
This all started with an online Call of Duty wager match despite that led to the death of Wichita resident Andrew Finch who was killed after Barriss placed a fake phone call to the Wichita Police Department. He claimed that Finch had killed his father during a family dispute and was holding his family hostage. Barriss has a history of making bomb threats, and Finch’s address was provided to Barriss by another participant. Finch apparently wasn’t involved in the feud.
So, what exactly is swatting? Swatting is an incident in which someone places a call to a police department with a false report. This report is designed to invoked the SWAT team or other armed response to the victim or location. In recent years, there have been a lot of high-profile incidents in recent years, but is believed that this is the first time a swatting event has led to a result of someone’s death.
