Swatting is the term used by gamers when one player makes a fake 9-1-1 call and directs police to the address of a person who may have offended them in an online game. According to police, a Kansas City man may have been the victim of a swatting incident resulting from an argument while playing Call of Duty.
The Kansas City Police Department received a 9-1-1 call alleging that a family was being held hostage after the father had been killed by an intruder. When the SWAT team arrived and a man, Andrew Finch, answered the door, an officer shot him. He died not long after in a local hospital. He leaves behind two children aged 2 and 7. The officer who shot Finch has been placed on administrative leave until the completion of the investigation.
However, this comes with a tragic twist: The man killed was not involved in the dispute between the CoD players. The player who was the “target” of the offended player had provided the latter with a false address that led the police to Finch’s home.
“Someone tried to SWAT me and got an innocent man killed, the person said on Twitter according to Rolling Stone.
Several players later took to Twitter claiming that one gamer had made the call, but rather than giving his own address, he gave what he thought was the address of the other player with whom he had been arguing. Responding to users, the person wrote, “I didn’t get anyone killed because I didn’t discharge a weapon and being a SWAT member isn’t my profession”. The account has been suspended.
Andrew Finch’s mother, Lisa Finch, told The Wichita Eagle her son wasn’t armed when he answered the door Thursday. She also said he wasn’t a part of the gaming community. “He doesn’t play video games,” Finch said. “He has better things to do with his time.”
Unbelievable, two kids in the community got in a verbal dispute and thought it would be funny to swat each other which resulted in an innocent man being killed by police officers responding to the swat calling. Disgusted.
— Christopher Duarte (@Parasite) December 29, 2017
At this point, no charges have been filed as the incident is still under investigation.
Donald Miller
Depraved indifference murder