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Tyler Barriss Facing Felony Charges For Fatal Swatting Call
Tyler Barriss, who goes by the handle "SWAuTistic" online, has been charged with a felony count of false alarm for his role in the police shooting of Andrew Finch after a Call of Duty argument.
The charge, which is a result of Bariss calling in a fake hostage situation to Wichita, Kansas police from his home in Los Angeles, California, has Bariss declared a fugitive. He stood in court in Los Angeles today where he confirmed that he was the man being charged in Kansas and would not fight extradition to Kansas.
At the moment, Bariss is only being charged with giving false information when making a police or fire department call, but could be brought up on greater charges when brought to Wichita. Such charges, if they're decided to be appropriate, would come after police have finished their investigation and prosecutors have reviewed it.
As part of the court proceedings, it was revealed that Barriss was convicted in 2016 for activities related to Swatting and bomb threats. He was released early in January 2017, only to be arrested again for violating a protective order that same month. Barriss pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a full year in prison, but was released early again in August 2017. Barriss made the phone call that got Andrew Finch killed when he was supposed to be in prison on December 28.
The head of the Wichita Police Department has confirmed that the city has no official policy on swatting calls.
[Source: TIME and The Daily Beast]
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