Feds charge California man, 2 gamers in deadly hoax call

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) – Federal prosecutors indicted Wednesday two online gamers and the California man accused of making the hoax calls that led a police officer to fatally shoot an unarmed man in Kansas.

The indictment charged Tyler Barriss, 25, of Los Angeles with conspiracy to make false reports, making false reports and hoaxes, cyberstalking, making interstate threats, making interstate threats to harm by fire and wire fraud.

Also charged were the two gamers playing Call of Duty: WWII online that led to the “swatting,” a practice in which a person makes a false report to get emergency responders to descend on an address.

Casey Viner, 18, of North College Hill, Ohio, was charged with conspiracy to make false reports after becoming upset during the game and asking Barriss to swat Shane Gaskill, 19, of Wichita.

Viner and Gaskill also face charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice stemming from what prosecutors say were numerous conversations about getting rid of their chats and any incriminating evidence after they learned of the shooting in Wichita. They both also face various counts of obstruction of justice and wire fraud.

Court documents do not list defense attorneys, and prosecutors did not know whether they had attorneys. Barriss’ attorney in a related Kansas case did not immediately return a telephone message. In the state case, Barriss is facing charges of involuntary manslaughter, giving a false alarm and interference with a law enforcement officer.

Barriss is accused of calling Wichita police from Los Angeles on Dec. 28 to report a shooting and kidnapping at a Wichita home. A responding officer fatally shot Andrew Finch, 28, after he opened the door. Finch was not the intended target of the swat, and lived at an old address for Gaskill.

U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister told reporters that Barriss followed Gaskill on Twitter after being asked to swat him, and that when Gaskill realized he might be swatted he dared Barriss to do it and gave him his former address.

“Falsely causing police to respond in force to the address of an innocent person of family is not a joke or a prank,” McAllister said. “It is a federal crime and it puts people’s lives at risk.” He also called such behavior “irresponsible and immoral.”

The most serious charge of making a hoax call carries a potential life sentence because it resulted in a death, and some of the other charges carry sentences of up to 20 years, McAllister said.

A phone listing for Viner in Ohio was not taking calls, and a person with that name did not immediately respond to a Facebook message. A message to a Twitter account for Gaskill also was not immediately answered.

Viner and Gaskill had not previously been charged in connection with the “swatting” incident or Finch’s death. First appearances in federal court for all three men are set for June 13.

The shooting drew national attention the practice of swatting. According to testimony in Barriss’ state case, he told investigators that the gamers’ dispute involved a $1.50 bet.

Barriss is charged with a total of 12 counts, including seven counts of wire fraud related to the hoax calls.

___

Also contributing is John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas.

Tyler Barriss appears before Judge Bruce Brown Tuesday, May 22, 2018 in a preliminary hearing in Wichita, Kan. Barriss is accused of calling police from Los Angeles on Dec. 28 to report a shooting and kidnapping at a Wichita home. The person who called said he shot his father in the head and was holding his mother and younger brother at gunpoint in a closet in the house in Wichita. Police went to the house where they thought the crime was occurring, and an officer fatally shot 28-year-old Andrew Finch after he opened the door. (Bo Rader/The Wichita Eagle via AP)