In a swatting incident related to Call of Duty, U.S. federal authorities are now charging three men. They face significant prison sentences.
Swatting after Christmas: We have reported on the swatting incident in Wichita several times on Mein MMO. On December 28, 2017, an innocent person was shot by a police officer. The police were dispatched following a swatting call. The incident has now taken a new turn, nearly five months later.
Players remained unharmed until May – Not anymore
Only one in prison so far: The person who made the swatting call has been in custody for quite some time: Tyler Barriss (25) is awaiting his charges in a prison in Kansas. He has confessed to making the phone call.
The two Call of Duty players, whose dispute triggered the swatting incident, had remained unharmed until now. That changed in May 2018. According to the Los Angeles Times, federal authorities intervened last Wednesday and are charging all three men.
Players aged 18 and 19 made a bet: The two Call of Duty players are Casey Viner (18) and Shane Gaskill (19). They were in a Call of Duty match together and got into a dispute. The dispute was reportedly over a $2 bet. That’s about 1 Euro and 70 cents.
“Try something”: Gaskill posted an address and essentially urged Viner to “Try something.” The address was a house in Wichita where Gaskill had previously lived. Viner was unaware of that. Viner then asked Tyler Barriss to initiate the swatting call and send the police after Gaskill. Barriss did so and feigned an emergency during a call. He posed as a hostage taker.
Officer shot innocent man: The police arrived at the given address and shot 28-year-old Andrew Finch during the operation. The local authority’s investigation determined that no charges would be filed against the officer. This was the first incident where someone died as a result of swatting.
Allegations: The three men are accused of having deleted communications when they realized someone had been killed. Viner is said to have reset his iPhone and deleted data, it is reported.
20 years in prison face the two Call of Duty players
The charges:
- Tyler Barriss is charged with making a false report to an emergency service. He is also charged with cyberstalking, threatening calls, and six counts of “wired fraud.” Additionally, he is charged with conspiracy to make false statements. Furthermore, he is facing charges of involuntary manslaughter in Kansas.
- Gaskill and Viner are charged with wire fraud, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Viner also faces an additional charge of conspiracy to make false statements.
The penalties: The prosecutors say, according to the LA Times,
- that Tyler Barriss could face life imprisonment for cyberstalking and his calls.
- Viner and Gaskill could face up to 20 years in prison for obstruction of justice.
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