The Los Angeles Police Department has announced the arrest of 25-year-old Tyler Barriss following a Call of Duty swatting incident that claimed the life of an innocent father of two.
For those who haven’t been following the situation, 28-year-old Andrew Finch was shot dead by the police after they were given his address in a prank phone call (believed to have been made by Barriss) regarding a hostage situation. The suspect was embroiled in a dispute with another man over a Call of Duty wager. Finch was neither involved in the dispute nor did he know the two individuals. His address was given out randomly.
Now, the officer who fired the fatal shot has been placed on paid administrative leave pending investigation, and Barriss has been arrested.
Finch’s family is unhappy with the statements made by the police, however. Like many others, they’re also questioning the fatal shooting, arguing that there was no reason for the cop to fire. According to KWCH12, the family released the following statement via their attorney:
While the family is pleased an alleged swatter was detained, the swatter did not shoot an unarmed man stepping out onto his porch. That was a WPD Officer. While the WPD has attempted to deflect the cause of death to a phone call, Andrew was killed by a bullet fired by an officer who clearly had no cause to fire.
Prank or no prank- no officer claimed to have seen a weapon before firing, and that fact alone makes this shooting reckless at best.
The family remains hopeful that all responsible are brought to justice including the shooter.
This is an extremely unfortunate and tragic situation. Finch’s family has set up a fundraiser to help cover his funeral expenses. If you would like to help them out, please consider donating by visiting their GoFundMe page.
Our thoughts go out to Finch’s loved ones.
