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Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




The practice of making a false report to get a SWAT team to a location is known as "swatting." It is most common among online gamers, but relatives say Finch was not a gamer.


Here's an example of some streamers getting "SWATted."

[youtube]3NLUI-OmQKI[/youtube]

https://charlieintel.com/2017/12/29/dispute-call-duty-wager-leads-death-28-year-old-man-kansas/
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/12/29/latest-relative-identifies-man-shot-in-suspected-prank.html

The first article describes it pretty well.

Spoiler:
A dispute between two teammates, over the loss of a $1.50 Call of Duty wager, has led to the death of a 28 year old man in Wichita, Kansas. Police has ID’d the 28 year individual as Andrew Finch. He leaves behind two children. His mother spoke with local news outlet, in a video posted by the site here. She says she never heard of a swatting before. His mother also said Andrew Finch did not play video games.

Two individuals got into a heated argument over a UMG Wager online after a loss in the match. During the heated dispute, one of the individuals involved provided the other with a fake address for where he resided. The other individual decided to send the location to a known swatter. This known swatter is reportedly the same individual that called in a fake bomb threat at CWL Dallas event earlier in December. The swatter called in a fake scenario to the local police. Swatting has been a problem within the Call of Duty community. There have been numerous incidents where a fake situation is called into police, either via calling 911 or via other ways to report an emergency.

UMG, the site that hosted the wager which caused the dispute, says they will work to provide any information they can to local authorities.

Police arrived at the address and shot and killed the 28 year old male who was not involved in the dispute at all. The officer who fired the shot, a 7 year veteran of the local police department, has been placed on paid administrative leave as the department investigates what really happened during this incident.

“It was a shooting call involving hostages,” Police Chief Troy Livingston said. “The original call, we were told someone had an argument with their mother and dad was accidentally shot. And now that person was holding mother, brother and sister hostage. We learned through that call that a father was deceased, and had been shot in the head. That was the information we were working off of.”

Police said they are investigating if the incident was a prank “swatting” incident, but at the time they responded to the call, the officers were working off the information they had as they approached the house. It is not clear why the officer fired as soon as the individual opened the door.

”We were given some misinformation on the (original) call,” he said. “We got a call that someone was deceased in the residence and that proved not to be true. Also, we’re still trying to determine who was the hostages and how that unfolded as well.”

Reports claim the two Call of Duty players involved were Miruhcle and Baperizer; these two players have since deleted their Twitter accounts. The known swatter also changed his Twitter profile to a new username.




Pizza delivery raids and SWATting have been going on for quite a bit. Especially courtesy of 4Chan. Now it's led to an actual death and not just emotional abuse. I kind of feel like criminal charges need to be pressed on these kinds of pranks.

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absolutely, false criminal reports should be prosecuted.
   
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How about the policeman that shot someone entirely uninvolved dead? Is it not safe to answer your front door to police in the US without them shooting you in the head?
   
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Criminal charges for the person who called in the false report, if they can be identified. Criminal charges for the thug who murdered an innocent person. Both of them can spend the rest of their lives in prison.

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Second degree murder charges for the cop

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I think swatting should go with an attempted murder charge, or in this case, a murder charge.

 
   
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 Luciferian wrote:
I think swatting should go with an attempted murder charge, or in this case, a murder charge.


Well, when you claim there's been a shooting yes. Since it's in America, also, yes. Any interaction with the police could potentially end with you dead. Even for the blond white ladies (RIP Justine Damond).

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That's what I meant. When you call the police and tell them someone has just committed homicide and is holding people hostage, the chances they will have a violent encounter with the police obviously skyrocket. One instance that made me very angry, personally, is the one in which the Walmart shopper holding an air rifle was shot by police. The person who called it in blatantly lied to police and told them that the guy was pointing an actual firearm at people and making threats, whereas in reality he was clearly standing with his face in a corner talking on his phone and not even interacting with anyone. That guy should have been charged with murder, full stop.

 
   
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Fireknife Shas'el






My understanding of US law is that any participation in a criminal activity is liable for anything that happens during that activity - so a getaway driver can be charged with murder if the people robbing a store kill someone. By that standard, the swatter prank callers are going to be charged with murder one, and they'll be caught, changing your Twitter handle isn't going to work.

   
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Oh my god, this story is so horrible. What kind of total idiot lets an internet dispute get out of hand this bad? Come on people, it was only $1,50 over a video game!
Both the person who called in the cops and the cop who shot the poor guy should be in jail for murder I feel. The guy who called in the cops definitely, he could have known that with a story like that, the police he sent at that innocent person would probably be on edge and trigger-happy. And shooting someone for answering the door? Even if you think there has been a murder, that is really extreme.

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Do the police just not do any kind of independent verification before sending SWAT in?

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 Nostromodamus wrote:
Do the police just not do any kind of independent verification before sending SWAT in?


Well, what do you propose they do? During a real-life incident, any delay could mean life or death for hostages or bystanders. On the other hand, SWAT officers should absolutely be able to take command of a situation and lock the scene down without things descending into chaos. That's the whole point of the type of small unit tactics they use.

 
   
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I kind of feel like criminal charges need to be pressed on these kinds of pranks.

And now, are they not punished?

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Nostromodamus wrote:Do the police just not do any kind of independent verification before sending SWAT in?

As much as I don't want to take blame off the prank caller, this also has me scratching my head; how do the cops end up going so far without being able to better assess the situation themselves or at least independently verify the claims?

Luciferian wrote:Well, what do you propose they do? During a real-life incident, any delay could mean life or death for hostages or bystanders.
I'd be interested to know how often SWAT have saved lives in these types of situations. With the number of people who keep arms in their home SWAT raids seem like an exceptionally dangerous undertaking that I thought only would have been done after verification that it's actually the best option.
   
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British Columbia

Guy who called it in: Harsh punitive sentence.
Guy who murdered innocent civilian: paid leave. Let go from current position. Acquitted on all charges.

In this thread afterwards: outrage from some, victim blaming from many, indifference after a time.

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Besides, the OP says "finally" - gamers and other idiots have been SWATting each other before with no deaths, so obviously the SWAT teams are a good sight better than regular beat cops when faced with such a situation.
   
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 Luciferian wrote:
 Nostromodamus wrote:
Do the police just not do any kind of independent verification before sending SWAT in?


Well, what do you propose they do?


I have no idea, I’m not an expert. It just seems like at some point there should be some kind of official confirmation that “yes, this actually does require SWAT” rather than just going in guns blazing based purely off of a tip.

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Police Arrest 25 Year Old in Swatting call

Los Angeles police said they have arrested a 25-year-old man over the alleged prank call that led to police killing a man in Kansas on Thursday.

Tyler Barriss from South Los Angeles was arrested Friday, according to Los Angeles ABC station KABC.

The incident took place late Thursday when police were called about a supposed domestic incident at a Kansas man's home, where he had shot his father and was holding his other family members at gunpoint, police said in a press conference Friday. When police arrived, the man who opened the door was told to raise his hands -- a command he obeyed until he moved his hands down to his waist, police said.

The officer fired one round, striking and killing the man. Police entered the home and found four people inside alive.

Police did not identify the Wichita man killed in the incident on Thursday, but his mother identified him as 28-year-old Andrew Finch in an interview with the Wichita Eagle. Police confirmed Finch did not have a weapon on him when he was shot, nor did he make the 911 call.

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 Luciferian wrote:
 Nostromodamus wrote:
Do the police just not do any kind of independent verification before sending SWAT in?


Well, what do you propose they do? During a real-life incident, any delay could mean life or death for hostages or bystanders. On the other hand, SWAT officers should absolutely be able to take command of a situation and lock the scene down without things descending into chaos. That's the whole point of the type of small unit tactics they use.


They shouldn’t take a report made by a member of the public as verbatim for a start, clearly they were not attending an actual crime but somehow that couldn’t be determined before they shot someone in the head. Which I find suspect anyway because I thought you aim for central body mass, this implies close range or opportunity to aim. What if they simply turned up at the wrong address? Shoot the neighbour first before checking the mailbox?

The general public are notorious for misinterpreting or exaggerating things, you respond to what they say but you don’t go in shooting without making your own assement, which was obviously woeful in this case. Only a couple of weeks ago there were reports of a shooting in Oxford Street tube station that caused a panic and armed police to turn up, yet it was just a fight that amounted to nothing as they never found any evidence of anything.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/12/30 10:57:28


 
   
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West Sussex, UK

From what I understand the shooter was a local police office not a dedicated SWAT officer so is less experienced to access the situations. However they have released the body cam footage which I have not seen but apparently shows the deceased walking out with his arms raised and being shot in the head. At no point does he make any sudden movements or move his arms towards his waist.
   
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Seems charged for both.

Same charged of murder 2? I think is the one?

Not first degree but hr definitely had a hand in getting him shot. And the other shot the victim so. No tow ways about it. Both guilty.

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The cop is one of those happy trigger guys that would have killed an unarmed civilian anyway. Just a matter of time. This is no accident, it's another murder. The only difference with the typical american "bad shoot" is that another civilian might get some responsability about that.

 
   
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USA

This whole thing is so fething sad on so many levels. I remember when video games were fun. When the feth did they get this damn serious for people holy gak. The internet (and CoD) has always been toxic to one degree or another but my god. Then there's the shooting itself, which is just another inexcusable instance to law enforcement jumping immediately to lethal force for incredibly ambiguous and unclear reasons. To wit;

 Howard A Treesong wrote:
Is it not safe to answer your front door to police in the US without them shooting you in the head?


Apparently not.

   
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 LordofHats wrote:

 Howard A Treesong wrote:
Is it not safe to answer your front door to police in the US without them shooting you in the head?


Apparently not.


Because a single incident now means the norm.

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 djones520 wrote:
 LordofHats wrote:

 Howard A Treesong wrote:
Is it not safe to answer your front door to police in the US without them shooting you in the head?


Apparently not.


Because a single incident now means the norm.


It's not a single incident though, is it?

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RogueSangre



West Sussex, UK

There are four people I hope are held accountable in this incident -

Player 1 - Provides a false address to Player 2 and goads him to organise a Swat.

Player 2 - Sends the false address and payment to the swatter, requesting he swats the address.

Swatter - Makes Swat calls in exchange for payment. Has been behind a number of previous Swats and bomb threats. In this instance he calls in as a child, saying that a family member has killed another family member, has doused the house in petrol and has said he would kill everyone rather than get arrested.

Police officer - without knowing more about the officer he has my sympathy. He was not a SWAT officer and is in a situation where he believes lives of children are at risk and that the person in front of him is armed and could set fire to the house. He definitely should not have shot based on the footage but he made a judgement call, unfortunately it was the wrong one. He will most likely be punishing himself for the rest of his life. On the other hand, if it turns out he is a racist bastard then feth him.

Hopefully Manslaughter for Player 1. Murder for Player 2 and Swatter. The officer is a tough call as I don’t know how experienced or trained he was, based upon the video alone then suspension and demotion at least due to poor judgment call, if he has a history of racism or being trigger happy then manslaughter and dismissal.
   
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Aeneades wrote:
Player 1 - Provides a false address to Player 2 and goads him to organise a Swat.

...

Hopefully Manslaughter for Player 1.
Seriously? For getting in an argument on the internet and then providing a fake address?

Player 1 seems enough steps removed from the death itself that I don't think you could or should be able to give him much more than a slap on the wrist.

Player 2, the Swatter and maybe the cops seem to be the responsible parties to me.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/12/30 14:07:04


 
   
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We'll find out soon enough eh.

Aeneades wrote:
He will most likely be punishing himself for the rest of his life.


That's likely the only punishing he'll have to suffer. Inexperience is not an excuse for murder. Poor judgement is not an excuse for murder. Having a badge is not an excuse for murder.

Any civilian in that situation(legally armed, facing someone they believe to be armed & dangerous based on third-hand information, shoots & kills the person who was not behaving in a threatening or dangerous manner and who was clearly not armed) would be facing at least the most serious form of manslaughter in that jurisdiction and more likely second degree murder. There is no reason whatsoever the cop should be treated any differently, but they will be of course.

And for those expressing surprise at the idea SWAT might shoot someone in such circumstances(though it turned out they didn't, it seems) - it makes a lot more sense when you recall that the kind of tactics & training they use are largely based around protecting the property and reputation of institutions more than they are saving lives. That doubtless bleeds over into their thinking and decision making even when they're not actually dealing with robbers or political hostage takers.

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I think he could get charged with felony murder (or whatever that thing is called), but not 2nd. He wasn't trying to kill anyone.

Cop on the other hand, 2nd for sure. There was no justification for that shoot, other than some fether who shouldn't have been on the force to begin with and hopefully will spend the rest of his life contemplating what he did wrong.

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Aeneades wrote:
There are four people I hope are held accountable in this incident -

Player 1 - Provides a false address to Player 2 and goads him to organise a Swat.

Player 2 - Sends the false address and payment to the swatter, requesting he swats the address.

Swatter - Makes Swat calls in exchange for payment. Has been behind a number of previous Swats and bomb threats. In this instance he calls in as a child, saying that a family member has killed another family member, has doused the house in petrol and has said he would kill everyone rather than get arrested.

Police officer - without knowing more about the officer he has my sympathy. He was not a SWAT officer and is in a situation where he believes lives of children are at risk and that the person in front of him is armed and could set fire to the house. He definitely should not have shot based on the footage but he made a judgement call, unfortunately it was the wrong one. He will most likely be punishing himself for the rest of his life. On the other hand, if it turns out he is a racist bastard then feth him.

Hopefully Manslaughter for Player 1. Murder for Player 2 and Swatter. The officer is a tough call as I don’t know how experienced or trained he was, based upon the video alone then suspension and demotion at least due to poor judgment call, if he has a history of racism or being trigger happy then manslaughter and dismissal.

I don't care how trained or experienced he was (if he wasn't well trained or experienced he never should have been there, that would only mean his superiors should be in prison as well), shooting an unarmed man in the head when he presents no threat whatsoever is clear murder (or maybe voluntary manslaughter in US law), no matter what tensions you might be experiencing at the moment. Being tense is no excuse for killing someone! A police officer, especially one participating in a SWAT team, should be able to deal with that. If he is not, he should not be allowed to carry a weapon.
Do US police forces actually select and train their officers? Or do they just employ every thug that turns up and asks "please give me a weapon I want to shoot someone"? From all the news coming out of the US, I highly suspect the last is true to a degree. You guys should really take a good look at the training and selection procedures for your police forces.

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