WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities are investigating whether a deadly police shooting in Wichita stemmed from someone making up a false report to get a SWAT team to descend upon a home in a prank common in the online gaming industry known as “swatting.”
Deputy Police Chief Troy Livingston said the shooting happened Thursday while an officer was responding to a report that a father had been shot in the head and that the shooter was holding his mother, brother and sister hostage, The Wichita Eagle reports.
Livingston said a 28-year-old man was shot as he came to the front door. Livingston said that when officers got inside the house, they didn’t find anyone with gunshot wounds.
Livingston didn’t say what caused the officer to shoot the man or whether he was armed. Police don’t think the man fired at officers, but the incident is still under investigation, he said. The man died at a hospital.
The man hasn’t been identified by police. But Madeline Finch identified the victim as her nephew, Andrew Finch. She said the family was “saddened” but declined to comment further.
Livingston says police are investigating whether the call that led to the shooting was a prank. Officer Paul Cruz told The Associated Press that more information would be released at a news conference, which has been moved to 4 p.m., and that he couldn’t comment.
The officer who fired the shot — a seven-year veteran of the police department — will be placed on administrative paid leave, which is department policy. Several people inside the home are being interviewed.
Swatting is believed to be more common among the online gaming community. The FBI estimates that roughly 400 cases of swatting occur annually, with some using caller ID spoofing to disguise their number.
In January, three families in Florida had to evacuate their homes in Florida after a detective received an anonymous email claiming bombs had been placed at the address.
A 20-year-old Maryland man was shot in the face with rubber bullets by police in 2015 after a fake hostage situation was reported at his home.
Rep. Katherine Clark, a Massachusetts Democrat, introduced an anti-swatting bill in 2015 — then was herself the victim of swatting. Armed officers in 2016 responded to an anonymous call claiming an active shooter was at Clark’s home.
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Information from: The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle, http://www.kansas.com
If this is a Swatting prank, then find and try the perpetrator for murder. Wherever they are.
A police officer shooting and killing an unarmed man who simply answered his door shouldn’t be a given either, though.
I wonder if they’ll try the “failed to comply” route?
I would also suggest that when they do find this tricksters that they get handed the bill for the cost of sending out the SWAT team.
Why was the cop so wound up? Did they even attempt to call the house before they sent the guns out?
So many questions.
Good questions.I’d like to know, too.
Wound up seems to be the default mode for many police, unfortunately. I wonder if the victim was a minority? That seems to get the police even more wound up.
The practice of swatting is horrible (you can see videos of it on YouTube - it’s a terrifying experience) and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. But it also highlights the problems with over-use of swat teams in the first place.