The Antelope Valley Times

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L.A. County man gets 20 years for making deadly swatting call to police

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LOS ANGELES – A Los Angeles County man was sentenced Friday to 20 years behind bars for making a hoax emergency call to law enforcement in which an innocent Kansas man was shot and killed by police.

Tyler R. Barriss, 26, was sentenced in Wichita, Kansas, by a federal judge under an agreement in which he pleaded guilty in November to dozens of charges brought by federal prosecutors in Los Angeles, Kansas and Washington, D.C., related to fake calls and threats, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

In the case, Barriss admitted making fake emergency calls on Dec. 28, 2017, that resulted in police surrounding a Wichita house, believing there was a man inside who had killed his own father and was holding family members hostage. The man who came outside to face police — Andrew Finch, 28 — however, had done nothing wrong and did not know about the call. As he stepped onto the porch, police told him to put up his hands. When he unexpectedly dropped his hands, he was shot and killed.

The phony call that led to Finch’s death drew national attention as the first documented fatal case of swatting, a hoax designed to provoke a law enforcement response to a nonexistent threat.

Barriss’ fake call stemmed from a dispute over a $1.50 bet on an online game of “Call of Duty.” Finch had nothing to do with the game, but police were given his address because it was the former home of one of the gamers, according to the DOJ.

In January, three men — Neal Patel, 23, of Des Plaines, Illinois; Tyler Stewart, 19, of Gulf Breeze, Florida; and Logan Patten, 19, of Greenwood, Missouri — were charged in Los Angeles with allegedly conspiring with Barriss to make hoax reports of bombs and murders to police departments, high schools and a convention center across the United States.

The three defendants are charged in separate indictments with conspiracy and conveying false information concerning the use of an explosive device.

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9 comments for "L.A. County man gets 20 years for making deadly swatting call to police"

  1. He dropped his hands like, “What the hell is going on?” And they shot him for it? He had every right to not put his hands up for nobody and they shot him for it. Just another example of how law enforcment consists of cowards on power trips representing the badge. It’s pathetic.

  2. The police should be charged for being a bunch of sissys and reacting violently toward an innocent man based off of “he said she said.” I guess the antelope Valley isn’t the only place full of chicken sh*t losers with badges and guns. Alot of these pigs should do the world a favor by putting their lips over their head and swallow. People such as the Kansas man should gather together and put these hog-tied pigs on trial in their own home. Too bad they’re dead to see any justice while these pigs are going back home to their fat ugly pig family, enjoying weekend pig bbqs and making themselves feel better by thinking, “I was doing my job. I’m so brave.”

  4. This guy get 20 years but someone gets drunk and kill somebody and get 10 we really do have a broke justice system