What Is Swatting? 911 Prank Call Leads To Man’s Death In Kansas

The family of a 28-year-old Kansas man, fatally shot at the door of his home after a hoax emergency call, wanted the unnamed police officer who killed him to be criminally charged, their attorney said Tuesday.

Police said Andrew Finch was shot after a prankster called 911 on Dec. 30 with a fake story about a shooting and kidnapping at Finch's Wichita, Kansas, residence. They explained the hoax call was a case of "swatting," in which a person is said to make a false report in order to get a SWAT team to descend on an address.

The man allegedly responsible for Thursday’s notorious "swatting" attack — 25-year-old Tyler Barriss — that led to the death of an innocent Kansas man was arrested Friday, CBS affiliate KWCH-12 reported. Barriss was booked in Glendale, California.

Finch's mother, Lisa Finch, wrote a letter Tuesday to Mayor Jeff Longwell, police chief Gordon Ramsay and other city officials, claiming an unannounced visit from the police chief three days after the shooting death of her son did not ease her heart and left numerous questions unanswered.

"It goes without saying that our family is devastated by what has happened," she wrote. "What cannot go without saying is why Wichita City leadership is compounding our grief and sorrow, by keeping my son from us? Please let me see my son's lifeless body. I want to hold him and say goodbye. Please immediately return his body to us," according to a NBC News report.

Swatting refers to "false reporting an emergency to public safety by a person for the intent of getting a (‘SWAT team’) response to a location where no emergency exists," according to the National 911 Program.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday prosecutors are anticipating to file a fugitive from justice warrant against Barriss on Wednesday. Prosecutors also added he is expected to have a hearing Wednesday in Los Angeles.

Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said in an emailed statement to the Washington Post on Tuesday Kansas was pursuing extradition of Barriss, a process that is believed to take up to 3 months.

Police said they believed the fake 911 call Thursday was actually made 1,300 miles away from Kansas, in Los Angeles by Barriss. Finch's death is believed to be the first known fatality caused by the dangerous hoax called "swatting."

"The people who perpetrate this are looking for a tactical response," John Bennett, FBI Special Agent in Charge in San Francisco said. "They want to see armed officers, they want to see a bomb, dogs, helicopters — that's all part of the fun they see in this and that can be very, very devastating."

Swatting is said to be common in the gaming community. Celebrities like Rihanna or Justin Bieber were also swatting targets, but mostly it is the online gamers who fall victim to the pranks. People make false emergency calls and then watch what happens next to their victims online, according to a Time Magazine report.

"That victim doesn't even realize that this is being done to them," said Det. Richard Wistocki, with the Naperville, Illinois, Police Department. "They want to record this livestream as SWAT is coming into the house," CBS News reported.

Wistocki also specified hackers can make calls to 911 that appear to be local. However, in reality they can be from anywhere around the world.