City Agrees To $5 Million Settlement In Deadly Call Of Duty Swatting
The city of Wichita, KS has reached a $5 million settlement with the family of a man who was killed by police after a swatting hoax that resulted from a Call of Duty match that he wasn't even involved in. The settlement comes from a civil lawsuit filed by the victim's family after local officials declined to prosecute the cop who reportedly pulled the trigger.
As reported by Kotaku and the Wichita Eagle, the swatting incident occurred in December 28 and led to the violent death of Andrew Finch, a 28-year-old man. Two Call of Duty: WWII players, Casey Viner and Shane Gaskill, got into a verbal altercation after betting $1.50 on a match. Viner then enlisted Tyler Barriss, who had a long history of calling in hoaxes, to swat Gaskill. Gaskill provided the wrong address to Barriss and challenged him to «try some shit,» which led to the police surrounding Finch's house.
Finch was fatally shot by Officer Justin Rapp, who said that he believed that Finch reached for a weapon shortly after the victim opened his own front door. The incident resulted in jail time for Barriss and Viner, who were sentenced to 20 years and 15 months respectively. Gaskill agreed to deferred prosecution, while Rapp was never charged. The Wichita Eagle later reported that Rapp was promoted in 2022, and a later investigation said that officers within the city's police department made jokes about killing people and traded racist memes.
The incident was widely reported as the first-known fatal incident of swatting. As Kotaku notes, the practice has become worryingly common in recent years, especially in gaming circles.
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