'Call of Duty' Argument Allegedly Leads To Fatal Police Shooting Of Innocent Man

A “Call of Duty” competitive multiplayer match allegedly ended in the police shooting of an innocent, unrelated Kansas man Thursday night. A police officer arrived at the address given in a falsified hostage situation report in Wichita, Kansas and fired his weapon at a 28-year-old man who came to the door, who died later at the hospital, the Wichita Eagle reported. Later, information emerged from the “Call of Duty” esports community that seemed to link the incident to a dispute between two players, according to the esports news website Dexerto.

Per Dexerto’s report, two “Call of Duty” teammates going by the usernames Miruhcle and Baperizer lost a wager match with $1.50 on the line. The ensuing argument led to Baperizer allegedly attempting to “swat” Miruhcle, or falsify a report that sends police to his address. Miruhcle then sent a fake home address to the swatter, a third party, to avoid police showing up at his home.

According to a more detailed timeline of events tweeted by “Call of Duty” pro Christopher Duarte, the fake address belonged to the man who was eventually shot and killed by a Wichita police officer.

The third party swatter reportedly told police there was a homicide and hostage situation at the address of the innocent victim. According to pro “Call of Duty” player ZooMaa, this was the same swatter who got a prior “Call of Duty” event evacuated with a false report of a bomb threat.

Swatting became a somewhat popular practice in gaming a few years ago, with a 2015 New York Times report detailing several high-profile incidents where video game streamers had broadcasts disrupted by the arrival of police. Prominent streamers took to Twitter to condemn the practice in the wake of the fatal shooting.