3 Men Face Federal Charges in Fatal ‘Swatting’ Prank

A federal grand jury indicted three men this week in a case in which a man in Wichita, Kansas, was killed by the police after a fake crime was reported as a prank.

The hoax, called swatting in an allusion to SWAT teams, was never meant for the victim, Andrew Finch, 28, though. He simply had the misfortune of living at the wrong address.

Now, two men accused of instigating the police response, Tyler Barriss and Casey Viner, and the intended target himself, Shane Gaskill, face a series of federal charges ranging from making false or hoax reports to obstruction of justice, according to a grand jury indictment unsealed Wednesday. Barriss is also facing involuntary manslaughter charges in state court.

In an interview days after the shooting, Lisa Finch, Finch’s mother, criticized both the swatters and the police.

“My son would have not opened the door had he known there were cops out there,” she said. “Not one time did they announce themselves. Not one time.”

On Tuesday, the officer who killed Finch, Justin Rapp, testified at a preliminary hearing for Barriss in state court that Finch hadn’t complied when instructed to put his hands up and made a gun-drawing motion, according to The Wichita Eagle. Rapp said he did not see a gun in Finch’s hands. Prosecutors had previously said they would not charge the officer, according to The Eagle.

According to the indictment, the tragic series of events began Dec. 28, when Viner, 18, and Gaskill, 19, were playing the videogame “Call of Duty: WWII” with one another online.

At some point, they began to argue and, upset, Viner enlisted Barriss, 25, to swat Gaskill. It didn’t take long for Gaskill to figure out what was happening, though, and he began prodding Barriss in messages online.

“You’re gonna try and swat me its hilarious,” he told Barriss after providing him with an old address, according to the indictment. “I’m waiting buddy.”

Soon after, Barriss, of Los Angeles, contacted the police in Wichita using a phone number with a local area code.

He told a dispatcher that he had killed his father, was holding his mother and brother at gunpoint, had doused his house in gasoline and was considering committing suicide, according to the indictment. When asked, he provided the address Gaskill had shared — and where Finch was living.

The police responded and, at some point, Finch stepped out onto the front porch, where he was ultimately shot just before 6:30 p.m. His mother had previously said that he emerged from the house to investigate noises he had heard from his living room.

Over the course of the next few hours, Gaskill exchanged messages with Viner and Barriss, antagonizing them for failing to swat him. But, by about 9:50 p.m., he had learned what happened and began warning Barriss to cover his tracks.

“Need to delete everything,” he wrote in one message, according to the indictment. “This is a murder case now.”

The charges against Barriss include making false or hoax reports to emergency services, cyberstalking, making interstate threats and wire fraud. The charges against Viner, of Ohio, include wire fraud, conspiracy to make false or hoax reports, obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Gaskill, of Wichita, faces charges of obstruction of justice, conspiracy to obstruct justice and wire fraud.

Cyberstalking and making a false or hoax report to emergency services resulting in death of another are both offenses punishable by sentences of up to life in prison. Obstruction of justice carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Each of the charges also carries a fine of up to $250,000.

A lawyer for Barriss did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Court documents did not list lawyers for either Viner or Gaskill, who could not be reached by phone.