On the evening of December 28, 2017, Andrew "Andy" Finch, a 28-year-old male, was at his home in Wichita, Kansas, completely unaware that a dispute over a video game between strangers would tragically end his life. The chain of events began with an argument between two online gamers, Casey Viner and Shane Gaskill, following a match of "Call of Duty: WWII." Viner threatened to "swat" Gaskill, a dangerous prank involving making a false police report to trigger a large law enforcement response.
In response, Gaskill provided Viner with an old address where he no longer lived, daring him to follow through.
Viner then contacted Tyler Barriss, a man known for making such hoax calls, and gave him the address. Barriss, from Los Angeles, California, called the Wichita police and falsely reported a gruesome scene at Finch's residence. He claimed he had shot his father and was holding his mother and sibling hostage, threatening to set the house on fire. Believing they were responding to a violent hostage situation, Wichita police surrounded the home. When Finch, who was not involved in the online dispute, stepped onto his front porch to investigate the commotion, he was shot and killed by officer Justin Rapp.
In the aftermath, an investigation unraveled the deadly prank. Tyler Barriss was arrested and ultimately pleaded guilty to 51 federal charges, including involuntary manslaughter and making a false report resulting in death. He was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison. Casey Viner pleaded guilty to conspiracy and obstruction of justice for his role in initiating the swatting and was sentenced to 15 months in prison. Shane Gaskill, who provided the false address, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and received an 18-month prison sentence.
The officer who fired the fatal shot was not criminally charged in Andrew Finch's death. The incident brought national attention to the dangerous and potentially lethal consequences of "swatting." The family of Andrew Finch filed a civil lawsuit against the city of Wichita, which was eventually settled for $5 million. The settlement provided some measure of closure for the family of the innocent man who lost his life to a senseless prank.
