Man arrested in 'Call of Duty' 'swatting' hoax that led to fatal police shooting

[LowDown]

A 25-year-old California man was arrested in connection to an online quarrel between two “Call of Duty” gamers that prompted a hoax call and led to a man being killed by police in Kansas.

Los Angeles police on Friday arrested Tyler Barriss, who law enforcement claimed is the “prankster” who called 911 and made up a story about a kidnapping in Wichita, ABC 7 reported.

Man arrested in 'Call of Duty' 'swatting' hoax that led to fatal police shooting | Fox News

The police were told that the man had killed someone and was threatening to kill others and himself. A completely crazy, violent person, in other words. So when they went there, and the guy failed to keep his hands in the air, they shot him.

He wasn't even the guy who Barriss argued with.

A lot of people are angry with the police, but I don't think that this is a case where they can just go up and knock on the door in a plain uniform. On the other hand, there has to be a better way to do this than shooting someone because he's confused and reaches for his pants. Of course, such reasoned judgments are difficult in the heat of the moment.

As for Barriss, if he is convicted of doing what is alleged I wish upon him the most medieval of punishments. According to Forbes and others, he has done this sort of thing multiple times in the past.

 

[Crovax]

Man arrested in 'Call of Duty' 'swatting' hoax that led to fatal police shooting | Fox News

The police were told that the man had killed someone and was threatening to kill others and himself. A completely crazy, violent person, in other words. So when they went there, and the guy failed to keep his hands in the air, they shot him.

He wasn't even the guy who Barriss argued with.

A lot of people are angry with the police, but I don't think that this is a case where they can just go up and knock on the door in a plain uniform. On the other hand, there has to be a better way to do this than shooting someone because he's confused and reaches for his pants. Of course, such reasoned judgments are difficult in the heat of the moment.

As for Barriss, if he is convicted of doing what is alleged I wish upon him the most medieval of punishments. According to Forbes and others, he has done this sort of thing multiple times in the past.

Sure they can since all the received was an anonymous phone call. I wish a lot more police would get shot(note:not seriously hurt or killed) when they go unannounced into homes like that and maybe they would stop doing it. Someone comes unannounced through my door they are getting quite a few rounds into them.

 

[Kal'Stang]

Sure they can since all the received was an anonymous phone call. I wish a lot more police would get shot(note:not seriously hurt or killed) when they go unannounced into homes like that and maybe they would stop doing it. Someone comes unannounced through my door they are getting quite a few rounds into them.

You do know that they don't go in "unannounced" right? They're often screaming "police" (or whatever lettered agency they are from) along with get down or some such. Not to mention the clothing and bulletproof jackets they are wearing have POLICE (or whatever lettered agency they are from) in big bright letters on them. Only time this doesn't actually happen is when they use flash bang grenades through the windows.

Besides, if you are going to go shooting at people that use flash bangs and heavy gear to raid your place before attempting to ascertain just who they are before firing then I've got to wonder what the hell you're up to that you're prepared to shoot first in such situations.

 

[chuckiechan]

Man arrested in 'Call of Duty' 'swatting' hoax that led to fatal police shooting | Fox News

The police were told that the man had killed someone and was threatening to kill others and himself. A completely crazy, violent person, in other words. So when they went there, and the guy failed to keep his hands in the air, they shot him.

He wasn't even the guy who Barriss argued with.

A lot of people are angry with the police, but I don't think that this is a case where they can just go up and knock on the door in a plain uniform. On the other hand, there has to be a better way to do this than shooting someone because he's confused and reaches for his pants. Of course, such reasoned judgments are difficult in the heat of the moment.

As for Barriss, if he is convicted of doing what is alleged I wish upon him the most medieval of punishments. According to Forbes and others, he has done this sort of thing multiple times in the past.

At the end of the day, they are ready to shoot the first thing that twitches. But the suspect didn't know he was a suspect of anything, and that twitching was going to be fatal.

I get it, but I think cops are a bit too quick on the draw now a days. They shot an unarmed victim of crime who was as confused as they were. Exactly who is supposed to know better?

 

[Kal'Stang]

Man arrested in 'Call of Duty' 'swatting' hoax that led to fatal police shooting | Fox News

The police were told that the man had killed someone and was threatening to kill others and himself. A completely crazy, violent person, in other words. So when they went there, and the guy failed to keep his hands in the air, they shot him.

He wasn't even the guy who Barriss argued with.

A lot of people are angry with the police, but I don't think that this is a case where they can just go up and knock on the door in a plain uniform. On the other hand, there has to be a better way to do this than shooting someone because he's confused and reaches for his pants. Of course, such reasoned judgments are difficult in the heat of the moment.

As for Barriss, if he is convicted of doing what is alleged I wish upon him the most medieval of punishments. According to Forbes and others, he has done this sort of thing multiple times in the past.

"Swatting" as they call it has been a prank that's been going on for a few years now. I'm actually surprised that this hasn't happened sooner. I've watched some video's on it and I can't help but shake my head at the stupidity of doing such a "prank". One person I watched had it happen so often to him that he sighed and shook his head while raising his hands. Towards the end the cops and him were joking around with each other after everything had been handled/explained/calmed down.

 

[Crovax]

You do know that they don't go in "unannounced" right? They're often screaming "police" (or whatever lettered agency they are from) along with get down or some such. Not to mention the clothing and bulletproof jackets they are wearing have POLICE (or whatever lettered agency they are from) in big bright letters on them. Only time this doesn't actually happen is when they use flash bang grenades through the windows.

Besides, if you are going to go shooting at people that use flash bangs and heavy gear to raid your place before attempting to ascertain just who they are before firing then I've got to wonder what the hell you're up to that you're prepared to shoot first in such situations.

Yeah because screaming police after you have already broken through a door or window works so well and yelling police and commands at a person after you have already deafened them with a flash bang is a similarly smart move. Of course this is all coming from the same stupid police force who thought that the whole operation would be a good idea to begin with.

I am a pretty big defender of the police when it comes to making judgement calls that go wrong but when they kill someone in a 100% completely avoidable situation then you have to look at the stupidity that led up to it.

 

[PirateMk1]

Man arrested in 'Call of Duty' 'swatting' hoax that led to fatal police shooting | Fox News

The police were told that the man had killed someone and was threatening to kill others and himself. A completely crazy, violent person, in other words. So when they went there, and the guy failed to keep his hands in the air, they shot him.

He wasn't even the guy who Barriss argued with.

A lot of people are angry with the police, but I don't think that this is a case where they can just go up and knock on the door in a plain uniform. On the other hand, there has to be a better way to do this than shooting someone because he's confused and reaches for his pants. Of course, such reasoned judgments are difficult in the heat of the moment.

As for Barriss, if he is convicted of doing what is alleged I wish upon him the most medieval of punishments. According to Forbes and others, he has done this sort of thing multiple times in the past.

If I was on the jury I wouldn't convict him of anything more than submitting a false report. This situation is completely and totally on the police. This is the polices fault, period end of sentence.

 

[Kal'Stang]

At the end of the day, they are ready to shoot the first thing that twitches. But the suspect didn't know he was a suspect of anything, and that twitching was going to be fatal.

I get it, but I think cops are a bit too quick on the draw now a days. They shot an unarmed victim of crime who was as confused as they were. Exactly who is supposed to know better?

Too quick? This swatting prank has been going on for a few years now and this is the first I've heard of a death resulting in it. An inevitability of such eventually occurring. But it still took years. I wouldn't call that "too quick on the draw" myself.

Generally speaking:

The only thing I can think of for this "mantra"(?) of "cops are too quick to kill" is due to ignorance of reality and the media over blowing it. There are literally millions of police interactions every year. And yet there are only thousands killed per year. Fatal Encounters, a website dedicated to recording police encounters has a chart of the amount of people killed since 2000. They're figuring that they are about 92 percent completed on obtaining info. They have recorded 23,533 thousand deaths. In a 17 year period. With millions of police interactions per year. DOJ estimated in 2011 over 69 million people had 1 or more police interactions. And that happens every year.

Fatal Encounters ~ Our visualizations
Police Behavior during Traffic and Street Stops, 2011

 

[Kal'Stang]

Yeah because screaming police after you have already broken through a door or window works so well and yelling police and commands at a person after you have already deafened them with a flash bang is a similarly smart move. Of course this is all coming from the same stupid police force who thought that the whole operation would be a good idea to begin with.

I am a pretty big defender of the police when it comes to making judgement calls that go wrong but when they kill someone in a 100% completely avoidable situation then you have to look at the stupidity that led up to it.

It most situations it does work well. As evidenced by the fact that there are tens of millions of police interactions every year and just a little over 1.5k deaths per year (or less) in those police interactions. It's easy to look back with 20/20 vision and complain. Not so easy to tell the future.

 

[chuckiechan]

And why did they shoot the guy? Maybe they should have called him on the phone first to see if someone answers.

"Hullo".
"Come out with your hands up"
"Why? Who are you?"
"We'er SWAT".
"No ****?"
"Yes. You are surrounded by the Po-Po."
"Nothing going on here."
"Well come out with your hand up just in case, and don't ****ing twitch"
"OK. Chill. Let me get my pants on"
"OK. We will have guns pointed at you. Don't twitch! And do what we tell you."
"OK."

 

[Deuce]

You do know that they don't go in "unannounced" right? They're often screaming "police" (or whatever lettered agency they are from) along with get down or some such. Not to mention the clothing and bulletproof jackets they are wearing have POLICE (or whatever lettered agency they are from) in big bright letters on them. Only time this doesn't actually happen is when they use flash bang grenades through the windows.

Besides, if you are going to go shooting at people that use flash bangs and heavy gear to raid your place before attempting to ascertain just who they are before firing then I've got to wonder what the hell you're up to that you're prepared to shoot first in such situations.

Exactly how much tactical analysis do you think occurs during the three seconds you have remaining to live when armed men kick your door down?

 

[Lutherf]

There is body cam footage of the actual shooting. It's grainy from across the street but you can see how the cop could have perceived the guy going for a gun.

Police release ?swatting? call, video of man shot to death | The Wichita Eagle

This was just a horrible situation created by a horrible person.

 

[Crovax]

It most situations it does work well. As evidenced by the fact that there are tens of millions of police interactions every year and just a little over 1.5k deaths per year (or less) in those police interactions. It's easy to look back with 20/20 vision and complain. Not so easy to tell the future.

Cops do tens of millions of no knock entries every year? That seems excessive

 

[HowardBThiname]

If I was on the jury I wouldn't convict him of anything more than submitting a false report. This situation is completely and totally on the police. This is the polices fault, period end of sentence.

I think the "swatter" is going to get in a bit more trouble than just that. His prank led to an innocent man's death, but not just that -- the swatter was convicted a few years ago of calling in a bomb threat hoax to a TV station. This isn't his first offense, and this time, as a result of the felony he committed someone died. Usually, that calls for a pretty harsh charge.

 

[HowardBThiname]

Cops do tens of millions of no knock entries every year? That seems excessive

I think he said "interactions" not "no knock entries."

Everytime an officer writes a moving violation ticket it's an interaction.

 

[PirateMk1]

I think the "swatter" is going to get in a bit more trouble than just that. His prank led to an innocent man's death, but not just that -- the swatter was convicted a few years ago of calling in a bomb threat hoax to a TV station. This isn't his first offense, and this time, as a result of the felony he committed someone died. Usually, that calls for a pretty harsh charge.

It was in NO way his fault the man died. An attorney can present a case for that. I do mean NO way. The death of that man was completely and totally on the police. This guy is guilty of calling in a false report at best.

 

[HowardBThiname]

It was in NO way his fault the man died. An attorney can present a case for that. I do mean NO way. The death of that man was completely and totally on the police. This guy is guilty of calling in a false report at best.

A lot of times, if you commit a felony and someone dies, you're charged with murder even if you didn't directly kill the person. Getaway car drivers have been charged with murder if someone they drove to rob a house/store gets shot, even though they were just sitting in a car far away.

That's just the way the law works. I'm guessing the swatter in this case goes away for a long time. And hopefully, it will teach other morons who play that game that swatting is for idiots and that if it leads to a death -- the blood will be on their hands.

 

[ttwtt78640]

I think the "swatter" is going to get in a bit more trouble than just that. His prank led to an innocent man's death, but not just that -- the swatter was convicted a few years ago of calling in a bomb threat hoax to a TV station. This isn't his first offense, and this time, as a result of the felony he committed someone died. Usually, that calls for a pretty harsh charge.

While that repeat offender deserves a harsher sentence logic makes complete sense to me it is not an excuse for the execution of a person who's only "crime" was alleged failure to comply with a police officer's insructions.

 

[Redress]

Man arrested in 'Call of Duty' 'swatting' hoax that led to fatal police shooting | Fox News

The police were told that the man had killed someone and was threatening to kill others and himself. A completely crazy, violent person, in other words. So when they went there, and the guy failed to keep his hands in the air, they shot him.

He wasn't even the guy who Barriss argued with.

A lot of people are angry with the police, but I don't think that this is a case where they can just go up and knock on the door in a plain uniform. On the other hand, there has to be a better way to do this than shooting someone because he's confused and reaches for his pants. Of course, such reasoned judgments are difficult in the heat of the moment.

As for Barriss, if he is convicted of doing what is alleged I wish upon him the most medieval of punishments. According to Forbes and others, he has done this sort of thing multiple times in the past.

Barriss should rot in jail for many years for what he did. There is simply no defense for his actions.

The police where acting as they are trained to. That training I think needs to be upgraded and improved. Priority should be getting the suspect under control, on the ground, then handcuffed and frisked. It seems lately too many instructions, too long with the suspect not in control, and mistakes prone by both the suspect and police in high stress situations. The solution to police shootings of unarmed people is not to point the finger of blame, but to figure out how to make such situations less likely to happen.

 

[PirateMk1]

A lot of times, if you commit a felony and someone dies, you're charged with murder even if you didn't directly kill the person. Getaway car drivers have been charged with murder if someone they drove to rob a house/store gets shot, even though they were just sitting in a car far away.

That's just the way the law works. I'm guessing the swatter, in this case, goes away for a long time. And hopefully, it will teach other morons who play that game that swatting is for idiots and that if it leads to a death -- the blood will be on their hands.

If he goes away then so should the cops who were involved in killing that man.

 

[Redress]

If he goes away then so should the cops who were involved in killing that man.

Making a false report of a crime is in fact a crime, and one the police did not commit.

 

[PirateMk1]

Barriss should rot in jail for many years for what he did. There is simply no defense for his actions.

The police where acting as they are trained to. That training I think needs to be upgraded and improved. Priority should be getting the suspect under control, on the ground, then handcuffed and frisked. It seems lately too many instructions, too long with the suspect not in control, and mistakes prone by both the suspect and police in high stress situations. The solution to police shootings of unarmed people is not to point the finger of blame, but to figure out how to make such situations less likely to happen.

I disagree completely. If Barriss goe to jail so should the police who acted with reckless disregard for life. This wasn't a training issue. This was an extreme negligence issue on the part of the police.

 

[PirateMk1]

Making a false report of a crime is in fact a crime, and one the police did not commit.

He made a false report. Period. That's all he should go to jail for.

 

[Truckstop]

I was always under the impression that if you committed a crime and someone died because of said crime you were charged with their death. For example if you robbed a bank and a patron had a heart-attack during the robbery you would be charged with their death. Seems the same here, committed a crime (false report) and someone died due to the crime. I'm not a lawyer though so none of this could be true.

 

[Lutherf]

He made a false report. Period. That's all he should go to jail for.

I don't know about that. If you drive drunk and bounce a pedestrian off your hood you should be charged with more than just DUI. This is kind of the same thing. The false report lead to a homicide so he's definitely got some culpability there.