20 years in prison to the author of false alert to the police

20 years in prison to the author of false alert to the police

The man used to practice a "joke" well known in the world of video games.

  A young man from California, USA, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to making a false report to the 911 emergency number, which resulted in the death of an innocent person.

Tyler Barriss, 26, of Los Angeles, called police in Kansas in 2017, saying he had killed his father and held his mother and brother hostage, adding that he had pumped gas throughout the house and thought burn it. The practice, called 'swatting' is very popular in the world of video games and involves reporting a false crime to the authorities to send their SWAT team.

  According to the office of federal prosecutor Stephen McAllister, the call was actually a joke coordinated with two other young people, who claimed to wrongly accuse Shake Gaskill, another gamer , for a bet of $ 1.50 on World of Warcraft. Barriss is also accused of 51 crimes related to false calls and threats.

Sending police and emergency personnel quickly to a home for false information is a kind of mockery that demonstrates an incredible disregard for the safety of others

Following the false report of Barriss, some officers arrived at the house and shot an innocent man, identified as Andrew Finch, 28 years old.

According to McAllister, 20 years in prison for Barris are so far the highest sentence imposed in the country to a guilty of false police reports, a practice known in English as "swatting", because they are usually done in order to mobilize the team of special forces (SWAT, in English) of the local police.

"False complaints are not jokes," prosecutor McAllister said in a statement released late Friday. "Sending police and emergency personnel quickly to a home for false information is a kind of mockery that demonstrates an incredible disregard for the safety of others",

The prosecutor said the sentence may offer "some peace" to the family of the deceased. Due to the fact, Barriss' friends, Casey Viner and Shane Gaskill, were accused as accomplices and are still awaiting trial.