Lethal Swatting Incident Leads to Guilty Party Getting 20+ Years in Prison

We reported at the tail end of last year that a SWATTING hoax gone wrong (if those things can ever go right) had led to the death of a twenty-eight-year-old man in Kansas. The perpetrator, Tyler Barriss, had been arrested for his role in the death and was kept in prison without bail to await his hearing. Well, that hearing just happened, and despite early claims that he was completely innocent, he’s since pleaded guilty to 51 charges, including making a false report resulting in death, cyberstalking, and conspiracy.

These charges, put together, will put him behind bars for 20 years, minimum.

During the hearing, we learned more about the lethal swatting hoax that led to his arrest. Apparently, Tyler Barriss was asked by 18-year-old Casey Viner to swat Shane Gaskill, because the two of them had been quarreling over a $1.50 wager on Call of Duty. Gaskill, for his part, encouraged the pair to SWAT him, but instead of providing his current address, he offered the address of the victim, Andrew Finch, who was completely removed from the matter. When the SWAT team arrived, he complied with the police until he unexpectedly dropped his hand, leading to his fatal shooting.

U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister summarized the evening aptly in a statement:

"Without ever stepping foot in Wichita, the defendant created a chaotic situation that quickly turned from dangerous to deadly. His reasons were trivial and his disregard for the safety of other people was staggering."

Of course, while the Swatting was messed up, it alone doesn’t lead to 51 charges. It turns out that Tyler Barriss had a long history of faking emergency calls to organizations all around North America. All of which are certainly coming back to bite him in the behind now.

The judge has yet to accept the plea deal. The other players who contributed to this tragedy, Viner and Gaskill, are still awaiting trial. The police officer who killed Finch was not charged.