A 25-year-old man was arrested Friday in South Los Angeles for his suspected role in a “swatting” hoax incident in Kansas that resulted in the fatal police shooting of a man.
Tyler Barriss was arrested on a fugitive warrant related to the Thursday shooting in Wichita, said LAPD Officer Mike Lopez. Barriss is being held without bail, Lopez said.
Barris was also arrested in 2015 on charges of making false bomb threats to the KABC-TV studio in Glendale. The station was evacuated after Barriss allegedly called and said there were “multiple” bombs inside.
Wichita Deputy Police Chief Troy Livingston said the hoax call was a case of “swatting,” in which a false report of a serious crime is made to prompt a SWAT team to descend on a targeted address. Police said a prankster called 911 and reported a shooting and kidnapping. Police have not disclosed the name of the man who was killed Thursday evening, but relatives identified him as Andrew Finch, 28.
Police played audio of the call to 911. A man said his father had been shot in the head. He said he was holding his mother and a sibling at gunpoint. The caller, speaking with relative calm, said he poured gasoline inside the home “and I might just set it on fire.”
Several officers arrived and surrounded the home, braced for a hostage situation. When Finch went to the door police told him to put his hands up and move slowly.
But Livingston said the man moved a hand toward the area of his waistband. An officer, fearing the man was reaching for a gun, fired a single shot. Finch died a few minutes later at a hospital. Livingston said Finch was unarmed.
The officer, a seven-year veteran of the department, is on paid leave pending the investigation.
The Finch family on Friday allowed reporters inside their home.
“What gives the cops the right to open fire?” Finch’s mother, Lisa Finch, asked. “That cop murdered my son over a false report in the first place.”
Lisa Finch said the family was forced outside barefoot in freezing cold and handcuffed after the shooting. She said her granddaughter was forced to step over her dying uncle and that no guns were found in the home.
Dexerto, an online news service focused on the video game world, reported that the fatal series of events began with an online argument over a $1 or $2 wager over a “Call of Duty” game in an online tournament operated by UMG Gaming.
“We woke this morning to horrible news about an innocent man losing his life,” UMG spokeswoman Shannon Gerritzen said in an email to the Associated Press. “Our hearts go out to his loved ones. We are doing everything we can to assist the authorities in this matter.” She declined to disclose other details.
Authorities say the swatting hoax that initially targeted celebrities has now become a way for players of combat-themed video games to retaliate against opponents while thousands of spectators watch.
Lisa Finch told reporters her son was not a gamer.
In addition to the 911 call, police also released a brief video of body camera footage from another officer at the scene. It was difficult to see clearly what happened.
The FBI estimates that roughly 400 cases of swatting occur annually, with some using caller ID spoofing to disguise their number. An FBI supervisor in Kansas City, Missouri, which covers all of Kansas, said the agency joined in the investigation at the request of local police.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
