Posted in: Games, Video Games | Tagged: activision, call of duty, Call of Duty swatting prank, Call of Duty: WWII, HRL, swatting
Man Accused of Fatal Call of Duty "Swatting" Prank Charged with Involuntary Manslaughter
Back before the New Year, a fight broke out between two Call of Duty players on the night of December 28th that resulted in a "swatting" prank in Wichita, Kansas. The fake 911 call gave the address of a totally unrelated 28-year-old father of two. The man, identified as 28-year-old father of two Andrew Finch, was shot and killed by police who arrived at the scene believing they were called to handle a violent hostage situation.
As of December 30th, 2017, the LAPD had arrested 25-year-old Tyler Bariss, the gamer alleged to have made the 911 call.
According to arrest records uncovered by The Wichita Eagle, Barriss, was booked by Sedgwick County police on Thursday after being extradited from California. He was charged with involuntary manslaughter, giving false alarm and interference with a law enforcement officer. Barriss is currently being held on $500,000 bail.
According to Kansas law, involuntary manslaughter is described as the killing of a human being as a result of reckless behavior or in the commission of an unlawful act. As Glixel reports, Barriss could face a maximum fine of $300,000 and up to 36 months in prison for a charge of involuntary manslaughter under Kansas law.
Barriss is accused of making a false 911 call, which reportedly spawned from an argument after a wager-based game of Call of Duty: WWII. The victim, Finch, appears to have no connection to the game or the dispute arising from it.
Swatting is a prank in which a fake 911 call is placed in order to call a SWAT team to the house of the chosen victim. In this case, the prank was played on an innocent party who was then fatally shot by a veteran police officer.