Thursday, January 11, 2018

Tyler Barriss SWAT Hoax Kills Andrew Finch

Tyler Barriss SWAT Hoax Kills Andrew Finch --- ===

December 28, 2018 Tyler Barriss SWAT Hoax Kills Andrew Finch  25-year-old Los Angeles resident Tyler Barriss is accused of falsely reporting a murder and hostage situation at a stranger’s home after a video game dispute on December 28. When police arrived on the scene, they opened fire on 28-year-old Andrew Finch, killing him as he came to his own front door. Police are certain that Andrew Finch was not the intended target and had nothing to do with the bet. Finch was not a known gamer and had nothing to do with the Call of Duty match. It is unclear why or how Miruhcle came up with the address or if the intended target just was not home at the time.  charged in Kansas on Dec. 29 for felony making a false alarm, according to a fugitive-from-justice warrant filed by prosecutors in Los Angeles County. Barriss had also made about 20 calls to universities and media outlets throughout the country in 2015, around the time Sept. 30, 2015 he made and was arrested for a bomb threat to ABC Los Angeles station KABC, Tyler Barriss threatened to kill his grandmother if she reported him, court documents say.   Barriss pleaded no contest to two felony charges of a false report of a bomb and malicious informing of a bomb in May 2016, in relation to the bomb threat made to KABC db sentenced to two years and 8 months in prison in in May 2016,  but released early in January 2017.  Arrested again that same month for violating a protective order and quicly sentenced to another year of prison on January 27, but left early on August 24, 2017.

Within months, he was back to swatting. “There are 10 backpacks that have bombs in them,” he said in one call to an L.A. elementary school that was immediately evacuated, according to court records.   “Do not take this lightly.” 

December 8, 2017 Barriss was taking credit on Twitter when  Major League gaming championship put on hold after bomb threat at Dallas convention center 

December 14, while the Federal Communications Commission was holding a vote to eliminate net neutrality protections. Shortly after Barriss’s tweet, the FCC meeting was put on brief hold while everyone was evacuated and police swept the room with bomb-sniffing dogs. He is also wanted for making a "swatting" call on the evening of Dec. 22 to Calgary Police, in which the caller said he had shot his father and were holding his mother and younger brother hostage.  Police responded but woman at the house believed she was the victim of a swatting call due to contact with him by her online persona earlier in the day.

Alternative theory - swatting online dispute is cover story for fake swat threat which resulted in death.

*reference


2017 Wichita, Kansas swatting - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Wichita,_Kansas_swatting
The 2017 Wichita, Kansas swatting was a swatting event called in by Los Angeles–based swatter Tyler Barriss, on December 28. Barris called in the threat due to a disagreement over a $1.50 bet on the popular video game Call of Duty.
Andrew Finch, 28, was fatally shot inside his home by Wichita police, who arrived in response to a false call of a homicide and hostage situation taking place at that address. Police claimed that Finch was not the intended target of the swatting, and was not involved with the Call of Duty game match. Barris is held at Los Angeles County Jail without bail facing a felony charge of false alarm.[1]

Background[edit]

Reports surfaced that the deadly series of events reportedly began with an online argument over a $1.50 wager in a Call of Duty game on UMG Gaming, which operates online tournaments including one involving Call of Duty. Two men, "Casey" (known by pseudonym Baperizer) and "Shane" (known by pseudonym Miruhcle), fought over friendly fire in the Call of Duty match, and causing them to lose both the match and $1.50 in wagers. The two gamers took to Twitter in an argument about the loss. Baperizer threatened to swat Miruhcle over the loss. Miruhcle gave a random address to Baperizer, who then contacted Barriss and provided him with the address given to swat Miruhcle. However, police are certain that Andrew Finch was not the intended target and had nothing to do with the bet. Finch was not a known gamer and had nothing to do with the Call of Duty match.[2][3][4][5]
It is unclear why or how Miruhcle came up with the address or if the intended target just was not home at the time.[citation needed]

Shooting[edit]

Wichita Police Department officers responded to Barriss’ call and surrounded Finch's residence. Before the police presence was announced, Andrew Finch is reported by his mother Lisa Finch, who was at the scene, to have opened the front door "because he heard something." Mrs. Finch reports that her 28-year old son "screamed and then they shot him." CBS News reports that moments after Finch stepped onto his front porch, he was shot dead by a Wichita Police officer. Mrs. Finch reports the police then ordered her and other family members to “Come out with your hands up.” The family was handcuffed and taken to the police station for questioning. Initial reports from Deputy Wichita Police Chief Troy Livingston stated that “A male came to the front door. As he came to the front door, one of our officers discharged his weapon.” Livingston did not initially state if Mr. Finch was armed, or what caused the officer to fire his weapon.[6] In a later statement on Dec. 30th, the Wichita Police Dept. stated the shooting was caused by Andrew Finch “reaching into his waistband."[7]The Wichita police have so far refused to release the name of the officer involved, identifying him only as a seven-year veteran of the force.[8] It was then revealed that the 911 caller, Tyler Barriss, remained on the phone with the 911 operator throughout the incident and for at least 16 minutes after Andrew Finch was shot.[citation needed] The Wichita Police Dept. have refused to answer questions about when Mr. Finch was given his first verbal command, when the 911 call ended, or whether officers at the scene were aware the caller was still on the phone with 911. Sedgwick County Department of Emergency Communications has also denied an open records request pertaining to the 911 call, stating the police department had asked that no more records be released.[9]

Aftermath[edit]

Many Wichita residents and other US-based commentators have expressed concern or outrage over the police shooting of Mr. Finch.[10][11] Wichita residents used the opportunity of a City Council meeting on January 9th to voice concerns on the subject, including questioning the editing of the police body cam footage to a mere 7 seconds, and arguing the city should assume full responsibility in order to avoid a lengthy struggle by the Finch family for justice. The Council did not comment directly, but indicated a willingness to consider training procedures at a later time.[12] Nearly a week after the shooting, Andrew Finch’s mother Lisa Finch wrote to the Wichita mayor and police chief stating that she doesn’t know where they’re keeping her son’s body and she wants to give him a “proper funeral service and burial.” “Please let me see my son’s lifeless body,” she wrote in a letter dated January 3rd. In this same letter, Mrs. Finch asked why the police officer who killed her son hadn’t been identified, why the family was handcuffed, and when police will return their belongings, “including two cell phones and a computer, seized from the house.” The family attorney, Andrew M Stroth, has also called for the city, police department, and officer involved in the shooting to be held liable “for the unjustified shooting of Andrew Finch.”[13]

Parties involved[edit]

Shooting victim
  • Andrew Thomas Finch, aged 28; Father of two, who had no affiliation with either of the three men or the game Call Of Duty.[14]
Call of Duty Gamers
  • Unidentified Male (Baperizer/"Casey"); This individual has yet to be identified or the identity is withheld.
  • Unidentified Male (Miruhcle/"Shane"); this individual has yet to be identified or the identity is withheld.
911 Caller
  • Tyler Raj Barriss, 25[15] Barriss was arrested a day after being interviewed by Daniel Keem on DramaAlert.
Wichita Police Department Officer
  • Name has not been released; however he is described as a 7-year veteran and is on paid administrative leave pending investigation.[citation needed]

Legal proceedings[edit]

Barris was arrested on December 29 at his Los Angeles home, and has been charged with a felony charge of false alarm. He is being held at Los Angeles County Jail without bail.[1]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Jump up to:a b "Suspect in fatal "SWATting" call faces charge of making false alarm". CBS News. January 3, 2018.
  2. Jump up^ Manna, Nicole (2017-12-29). "Call of Duty gaming community points to 'swatting' in deadly Wichita police shooting". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved 2017-12-29.
  3. Jump up^ Darrah, Nicole (2017-12-29). "Kansas police investigate whether fatal shooting was result of prank called 'swatting'". Fox News. Retrieved 2017-12-29.
  4. Jump up^ Sommerfeldt, Chris (2017-12-29). "Kansas man shot to death by police was reportedly unintended victim of 'Call of Duty' 'swatting' prank". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2017-12-29.Sommerfeldt, Chris (29 December 2017). "Kan. man killed by cops was victim of 'swatting' prank". NY Daily News.
  5. Jump up^ "Kansas Man Killed In 'SWATting' Attack — Krebs on Security". krebsonsecurity.com. Retrieved 2017-12-29.
  6. Jump up^ "Family says son killed by police in 'swatting' was unarmed, didn't play video games". 9 January 2018.
  7. Jump up^ "Police release 'swatting' call, video of man being shot to death as a result of hoax". 9 January 2018.
  8. Jump up^ "Family says son killed by police in 'swatting' was unarmed, didn't play video games". 9 January 2018.
  9. Jump up^ "Swatter was still talking to 911 at least 16 minutes after Wichita man was shot". 9 January 2018.
  10. Jump up^ "Wichita residents speak up after deadly shooting on 'swatting' call". 10 January 2018.
  11. Jump up^ "It isn't just about 'swatting' – it's also about the police officer who shot an innocent man". 10 January 2018.
  12. Jump up^ "Wichita City Council hears concerns about deadly officer-involved shooting on 'swatting' call". 10 January 2018.
  13. Jump up^ "Swatting victim's mother to police: Please let me see my son". 10 January 2018.
  14. Jump up^ "Serial prankster arrested in fatal Kansas police shooting 'rented out his swatting services to other gamers as revenge and claims someone gave him the wrong address' that led to an innocent man's killing". 31 December 2017.
  15. Jump up^ "Suspect in deadly 'swatting' call in Kansas held without bail in Los Angeles". 2 January 2018.

Tyler Raj Barriss | Wiki & Bio | Everipedia
https://everipedia.org/wiki/tyler-raj-barriss/


Dec 30, 2017 - Tyler Raj Barriss's wiki: Tyler Raj Barriss is a resident of Los Angeles, California​. [2]​ [6]​ [7]​Tyler Raj Barriss pictured on TwitterPersonal LifeHe resided at a transitional recovery center in south Los Angeles. [6]​ [2]​In the MediaDeath of Andrew FinchOn Friday, December 2.

*Sources


Court filing: Tyler Barriss threatened to kill grandmother | The Wichita ...
www.kansas.com/news/local/crime/article192948564.html6 days ago - After making a bomb threat to a Calif. TV station in 2015, Tyler Barriss threatened to kill his grandmother if she reported him, court documents say.
'Swatting' suspect had history of false alarms - Portland Press Herald
www.pressherald.com/2018/01/06/swatting-suspect-had-history-of-false-alarms/
LOS ANGELES — In some corners of the online gaming world, Tyler Rai Barriss was a notorious figure. The 25-year-old Los Angeles man had built a reputation for helping others gain revenge on rival players. He also had a history of making fake bomb threats and other hoaxes that sowed chaos and ... He also had a history of making fake bomb threats and other hoaxes that sowed chaos and landed him in jail. “There are 10 backpacks that have bombs in them,” he said in one call to an L.A. elementary school that was immediately evacuated, according to court records. “Do not take this lightly.” Sometimes using his grandmother’s phone and computer, Barriss called in at least two dozen fake bomb threats and other prank emergencies in recent years, targeting a television station in Glendale and venues as far away as Illinois and New Hampshire, police say.

Sept. 30, 2015  Glendale man charged for bomb threats to KABC-TV | abc7.com
abc7.com/news/glendale-man-charged-for-bomb-threats-to-kabc-tv/1035539/
Oct 15, 2015 - A 22-year-old man has been charged for making bomb threats to KABC-TV, the district attorney's office announced Thursday. Tyler Raj Barriss of Glendale faces two felony counts of false report of bomb to agency or business and one felony count of criminal threats. Several buildings in Glendale, including the ABC7 Broadcast Center, were evacuated because of a bomb threat on Sept. 30, 2015

Californian accused in Kansas 'swatting' death also wanted in Canada New Nation has inside information on terrorist style crimes that recruite minorities to commit acts of terror, and might indicate this was a clandestine terror attack.
A Southern California man accused of making a hoax 911 call that led to the killing of an unarmed man in Kansas is now also wanted by authorities in Canada. The Calgary Police Service has issued an arrest warrant for 25-year-old Los Angeles resident Tyler Barriss,who they allege made a "swatting" call on the evening of Dec. 22 to Calgary Police, in which the caller said he had shot his father and were holding his mother and younger brother hostage. 

 they allege made a "swatting" call on the evening of Dec. 22 to Calgary Police, in which the caller said he had shot his father and were holding his mother and younger brother hostage... police department's tactical unit "quickly attended the residence, contained the scene, and began evacuating nearby units,"... 911 call from woman who lived at the home, stating that she believed she was the victim of a swatting call, according to police.... woman may have been targeted due to her online persona, investigators from the police department's cyber forensics unit "quickly" identified Barriss, who allegedly had made contact with the victim earlier in the day. The arrest warrant charges Barriss with public mischief, fraud and mischief, police said

arriss was


Suspect in deadly Kansas 'swatting' call made 20 other threat-related calls in the past: Police
Barriss had also made about 20 calls to universities and media outlets throughout the country in 2015, around the time he was arrested for a bomb threat to ABC Los Angeles station KABC, the Glendale Police Department in Los Angeles County told ABC News.  Barriss pleaded no contest to two felony charges of a false report of a bomb and malicious informing of a bomb in May 2016, in relation to the bomb threat made to KABC, court records show. He was sentenced to two years and eight months in jail.


Los Angeles man arrested in 'swatting' prank - NY Daily News
www.nydailynews.com/.../unarmed-kan-man-killed-cops-victim-swatting-prank-article-...Dec 30, 2017 - Tyler Barriss — a 25-year-old gamer suspected of making the false police report that led to the death of Wichita resident Andrew Finch — was cuffed by Los Angeles cops late Friday. ... “Someone tried to swat me and got an innocent man killed,” read a tweet from the would-be victim. Barriss later denied that ...

Suspect in deadly 'swatting' call in Kansas held without bail in Los ...
www.latimes.com/local/.../la-me-ln-swatting-kansas-lapd-arrest-20180102-story.html
Jan 2, 2018 - Tyler Raj Barriss, 25, was arrested in South L.A. on Friday on an arrest warrant issued by Sedgwick County, Kan., authorities. ... The hoax emergency call, which was placed Thursday evening, prompted a SWAT team to surrounded a Wichita residence and shoot an innocent man who answered the door.

'Swatting' death: Suspect faces felony charge - CNN - CNN.com
www.cnn.com/2018/01/03/us/kansas-police-shooting-swatting/index.html
Jan 4, 2018 - "Swatting" suspect Tyler Barriss waives extradition at a California hearing to face a felony charge in Kansas in the death of Andrew Finch. ... told CNN that an argument ensued after a "Call of Duty" match and that one of the gamers involved reached out to Barriss to request that he swat the other gamer.

Kansas 'Swatting' Hoax: Wichita Suspect Faces Felony Charge | Time
time.com › U.S. › Crime Jan 3, 2018 - Tyler Barriss, 25, was held without bail after waiving his right to an extradition hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court. He stood behind a ... The goal of such hoax calls is to get a SWAT team to respond, although Ramsey said none of the officers at the scene were SWAT team members. Ramsey said the ...

Troll Who Fatally ‘Swatted’ Kansas Man Got Out of Jail Early for Bomb Threat
Tyler Barriss was convicted of sham calls that led police to rush innocent people before he allegedly did it again, this time with deadly results
https://www.thedailybeast.com/troll-who-fatally-swatted-kansas-man-got-out-of-jail-early-for-bomb-threat- 
Tyler Barriss was convicted of sham calls that led police to rush innocent people before he allegedly did it again, this time with deadly results. ... The dangerous hoax is called “swatting,” in reference to the heavily armed police SWAT teams who respond to the prank calls. Barriss, who went by “SWauTistic” ...sentenced to two years in prison in in May 2016. Instead of serving a full sentence, Barriss was released in January 2017, prison records show.  He was arrested again that same month, this time on charges of violating a protective order. Barriss entered a plea accepting the conviction, and was sentenced to another year of prison on January 27.  But once again, Barriss was able to leave prison early, getting out of his Los Angeles County lockup on August 24, 2017. Within months, he was back to swatting.  ecember 8, Barriss was boasting on his “SWauTistic” Twitter profile.


Minutes later, the Major League Gaming was evacuating its Dallas convention center over a bomb threat, and Barriss was taking credit on Twitter.

Six days later, Barriss allegedly set his sights on an even higher-profile target. “Gonna evacuate the net neutrality meeting guys don’t be upset,” he tweeted on December 14, while the Federal Communications Commission was holding a vote to eliminate net neutrality protections. Shortly after Barriss’s tweet, the FCC meeting was put on brief hold while everyone was evacuated and police swept the room with bomb-sniffing dogs.



tweets recovered by cybersecurity reporter Brian Krebs, Barriss also used the account to claim credit for a bomb threat and evacuation at a Florida high school, and claimed in direct messages that he had swatted approximately 10 homes and 100 schools.

“Bomb threats are more fun and cooler than swats in my opinion and I should have just stuck to that,” he told Krebs. “But I began making $ doing some swat requests.”  March, Israeli police arrested 19-year-old Michael Kadar for allegedly advertised customizable bomb threats online, and placed over 100 at U.S. schools and community

 interview to a popular YouTuber in an attempt to clear his name.

“I was minding my own business at the library,” Barriss said in the interview, still under a pseudonym. “Somebody contacted me and said this [expletive] just gave me his address and he thinks nothing’s gonna happen. You wanna prove him wrong? And I said sure, I love swatting kids who think nothing’s gonna happen.”

Hours later, Los Angeles police arrested Barriss for his alleged role in Finch’s death.

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