Dispute Over Call of Duty Leads To Swatting, One Man Dead, Another Arrested!
Swatting, the art of sending the cops to what they think is a serious violent event, has long been used by gamers as a prank, and in other situations to enact revenge on other gamers. They call it swatting because the intent is to convince law enforcement to send out the swat team, for what typically is a situation where there’s no emergency whatsoever. While historically speaking, swatting has never resulted in death on North American soil before, its now happened for the first time in U.S history, and the grim results are a clear reminder of just how serious of a problem swatting has become.
The recent death by swatting incident seems to have occurred as a result of a dispute between two gamers in Call of Duty, and believe it or not, it was over a measly $1.50 wager bet over a match in COD. The intended target of the swatting gave the perpetrator who actually called the cops the wrong address, sending cops to an innocent family’s home where one member of the family was shot and killed upon the cops arrival.
25 year old Tyler Barriss of Los Angeles, who was the perpetrator of the swatting, sent cops to a home in Wichita Kansas. Barriss originally told the police that he shot and killed his father and was holding the rest of his family hostage. Police then arrived at the Finch home in Wichita, where they shot and killed 28 year old Andrew Finch shortly after arriving on the scene.
Law enforcement has since arrested one of the perpetrators, Tyler Barriss, and its more than likely the other gamer involved will also be arrested as well. Even though the second person who was the originally intended target did not actually swat anyone, they implicated themselves by giving the Finch’s address, knowing well what would happen.
Sadly, the victim Andrew Finch left behind 2 kids who no longer have a father.
Lisa Finch, the victim’s mother, appears to be infuriated with what she claims are the negligent actions of law enforcement. Wichita Deputy Police Chief Troy Livingston appears to try and put the blame solely on the perpetrator of the swatting, rather than the response of his officers. The mother doesn’t appear to be buying the argument, and insists the death was unjustified as her son was clearly unarmed when the police arrived.
Swatting is Out of Control!
The art of swatting is more serious of a problem than the public realizes, as the FBI has stated that about 400 swatting incidences take place each year in the U.S alone. To add insult to injury, tracking down the perpetrators of these crimes isn’t always quick and easy. Swatters typically use a number of methods to hide their identities, including the use of apps to spoof their phone number, making it appear as if they’re someone else and in a totally different location. Given the extent that many will go to hide their identities, it can often take a considerable amount of time for law enforcement agencies to track down perpetrators and bring them to justice.
I’ve actually been swatted before myself, and I have to admit, its quite a scary scenario to see play out. Back in 2014, I was sitting in my basement coding out updates to a website when I heard the doorbell ring. Not thinking much of it, I went upstairs and answered the door, only to reveal the horrors of an entire swat team and even an armored vehicle sitting out front of my home.
Thank god the law enforcement where I live wasn’t as trigger happy as the cop who shot and killed that poor man in Wichita. In fact, police insisted that something didn’t seem right with the claims being made, and they expressed serious doubts from the get go.
I explained to the officers I talked with at my door that I had a heavy online presence, and that I wholeheartedly wasn’t surprised somebody would’ve done this. An officer stated they were taking note of my situation in case of future swatting instances.
At the time, I had as many 200,000 readers a month to my blog, and operated multiple media outlets on social media, including platforms like Google+ and Twitter. Given my extreme presence on social media, I have to admit the thought did cross my mind several times that someone may attempt to swat me.
How Do We Deter The Potential For Future Swatting?
Given the grave situation that unfolded in Wichita, I think its high time congress enacted new legislation to make the punishments for the crime of swatting so severe that no one in their right mind would ever think to attempt to do it. If the perpetrators of these crimes think they could be facing the risk of a lengthy prison terms, or even a life sentence or massive fines, its more than likely such legislation would definitely help to deter others from ever thinking about doing it.
Swatting typically begins with online social gaming sessions on platform’s like XBOX Live, Twitch, Steam, and others, often done as a what is typically intended to be a harmless prank, or as a means to escalate a feud between rival gamers.
The streaming platform Twitch has a long history of dealing with swatting, with the platform often having to make changes in order to better hide its users private information from those who try to dissect things like IP addresses that can further reveal an individual’s home address, telephone number, and other private information.
All being said, something’s got to give when it comes to swatting. Its obvious from what just happened that people think this ridiculousness is a game, it definitely is not. Its just unfortunate someone had to die as the result of this awful way of playing pranks on others.
Written and published by Daniel Imbellino, co-founder of Gamers Bay! Connect with us across the web to stay up to date with honest gaming news and reviews! Connect with me on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+DanielImbellino
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