A California man, Tyler Rai Barriss, received a 20-year prison sentence for his role in a deadly swatting hoax that resulted in the death of an innocent Kansas man. The sentencing occurred on Friday, following Barriss’s guilty plea in November to 51 charges related to making phony emergency calls. One of the most serious charges was making a false report resulting in a death, according to NBC News.
Barriss admitted to engaging in years of “swatting,” a dangerous practice involving falsely reporting serious crimes to trigger a massive police response to an unsuspecting target’s home. As part of a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of Los Angeles, Barriss agreed to a prison term of 20 to 25 years.
U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister emphasized the seriousness of swatting during a news conference. “We hope that this will send a strong message about swatting, which is a juvenile and senseless practice,” McAllister stated. “We’d like to put an end to it within the gaming community and any other context. Swatting, as I’ve said before, is not a prank.”
On December 28, 2017, Barriss made a false report to police, claiming he was at a home in Wichita, Kansas, where he had allegedly shot his father and was holding the rest of the family hostage. Responding to the call, officers arrived at the McCormick Street address and ordered the occupants to come outside. Andrew Finch, 28, emerged from the home, and, in a moment of confusion, raised and dropped his hands several times. An officer then opened fire, fatally shooting Finch, officials said.
Authorities determined that Barriss made the false report at the request of two gamers, Casey Viner, 18, and Shane Gaskill, 25. Viner allegedly asked Barriss to make the call as retaliation against Gaskill after a dispute during a game of “Call of Duty.” Court records indicate that Barriss taunted Gaskill via Twitter direct messages, leading Gaskill to challenge Barriss to swat him. Gaskill provided Barriss with an address where he had previously lived, which was then occupied by Finch’s family.
As a consequence of the incident, Finch’s family is suing the police and the city of Wichita over his death, according to NBC News.
Barriss’s involvement extended to numerous other hoaxes. Between 2015 and 2017, he was linked to false calls in multiple states, including Ohio, Nevada, Illinois, Indiana, Virginia, Texas, Arizona, Massachusetts, Missouri, Maine, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Michigan, Florida, Connecticut, and New York.
According to The Wichita Eagle, Barriss was also known by aliases such as “@SWAUTISTIC,” “Robert Hayward,” “Robert,” “Alex Mendez,” “Alex,” “Matthew,” and “Aaron” in court documents.
The judge sentenced Barriss to 150 months for the Kansas charges and 90 months for the California charges, to be served consecutively. He also received a five-year supervised release sentence for charges in Washington, D.C., related to making fake bomb threats to the FBI headquarters and the Federal Communications Commission in 2017, which will run concurrently with the other sentences. Barriss was further ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution to the Kansas Crime Victims Compensation Board, which had provided that amount to the Finch family to cover funeral expenses.
Law enforcement agencies are working to combat swatting and other forms of cybercrime. False reports can have deadly consequences, as seen in the Finch case, and authorities are committed to holding perpetrators accountable.