Swatting Suspect Allegedly Threatened To Kill Grandmother Over Previous Incident

A court filing acquired by the Wichita Eagle revealed new details about the chief suspect in December’s now infamous swatting incident. Before Tyler Barriss allegedly made the phone call that resulted in the fatal police shooting of Andrew Finch in Wichita, he may have threatened to kill his grandmother if she reported him for a previous incident, according to the Eagle’s report.

In 2015, Barriss’s 62-year-old grandmother filed a domestic violence restraining order against him while they lived together. In the filing, she claimed he threatened to kill her if she told authorities about his involvement in a false bomb threat he had called into a Glendale, California TV station. He also reportedly made threats against her home and her dogs, which prompted the judge to order him to move out and maintain distance from his grandmother.

That order was dismissed when the two of them missed a court date.

Barriss, who lives in Los Angeles, was hit with a felony false alarm charge and will be extradited to Kansas to face trial. He is said to be a prolific swatter, meaning he makes false alerts to local authorities in order to scare specific people by sending police to their homes. Barriss was reportedly summoned by a competitive “Call of Duty” player to swat another player, but was given the address of Finch, who was not involved. When police showed up to Finch’s home, he stepped outside and was fatally shot.

The Eagle posted a timeline of the phone call Barriss made to the Wichita Police Department. ABC World News also had video of the court appearance he made in Los Angeles before being sent to Kansas.