Man Sentenced to 15 Months and Banned from Gaming After Fatal Swatting Incident

A man has been sentenced to 15 months in prison, plus a two-year gaming ban after a swatting call led to a person's death.

[TeamIcoFan]

Idiot should've gotten life.

[DaDrunkenJester]

Apparently this guy had someone else call in the SWAT, and that guy got 20 years. But I feel like the person who ordered the hit should get the same. Does the person who hires the hitman not get as much time?

[xTonyMontana]

I don't think Swatting someone is considered the same as hiring a hitman, the police don't go around assassinating people.

[nveenio]

@xTonyMontana, They don't? Seems like they kill people "accidentally" an awful lot lately.

[lucian229]

Lol Tony, that's all they've been doing. Or do you live in a shoe?

They are trained to kill first, ask questions later.

[Kingthrash360]

Both should have gotten life. Imo

[dumahim]

The guy who got 20 years wasn't just for the one swatting incident though. He was facing 51 charges in total. A quick search only shows it was about 30 bomb threats including one on a school and fraud and mischief charges in Canada for harassing a woman in Calgary.

[SkatterBrain]

but what did the person that got swatted do to get them to shoot him? if he complied with theyre screaming he shouldnt have been shot, unless its another shoot now ask questions later that are always on the news

[Vipre77]

@Skatterbrain:
The guy thought they were there for a neighbor or something. Came out of his house to see what was going on while wearing some loose pants or shorts and reached to pull them up and the cops shot because they thought he might be reaching for a gun.

[mikeslemonade]

This is where the court system fails. If anything the person who came up with the idea should as much time or more time. The court system should ask me to hand out years in prison because people are getting either too much time or too little. They’re getting too little money or too much money.

[nveenio]

@SkatterBrain, I saw a video once of a guy who was in a parking lot. A cop stopped in for no reason and said, "Let me see your ID." As soon as the guy went to grab his ID, the cop shot him. The cop's first thought wasn't that the guy was doing as he was told.

Cops are supposed to be trained to be cool in those high stress situations, not people. Don't blame people for a cop's itchy finger. That's just wrong.

[Mithan]

And a public canning so other stupid people get a clue. Justice should be visible.

[abstractel]

Life? He's an asshole who needs anger management but can you even picture what it's like to be in a US prison for even just a single year?

Also, SWAT needs to f'ing chill out, this is a real issue. What in the ever loving f*** made them pull the trigger? Did he even have a single object in his hand when it happened? I feel incredibly bad for the family who lost a loved one, and for the kid not to get to live out his life.

[ziggurcat]

That's it??

[Seraphim]

I read an article earlier. Not sure if all of this mentioned in the IGN article.

Apparently this guy had someone else actually make the call. The person who made the call was recently convicted of making a TON of 911 [Swatting] calls and sentenced to 20 years. The guy who was suppose to get swatted was also convicted for giving this guy his old address which resulted in the guys death. If I recall that person got probation. 15 months does seem light but it's also, I imagine, at least 1 year in prison. All one can hope is the kid learned from this and is able to get hit shit together afterwards. At the same time harsher punishments might be needed to actually stop this ridiculous and reckless tactic from happening.

[NoneYuh]

Idk, if you’re this level of shitty person then I doubt one year of prison will change that.

[DVAcme]

@NoneYuh The guy isnt a hardened criminal. He's a dumbass gamer kid. Even if he DOES deserve more time behind bars, that one year and change will be WAY more hellish to him than to a career criminal. He'll be someone's bitch within the week.

[ABizzel1]

The problem is that the person being killed in these ignorant incidents can no longer live the life they were supposed to. The family that loved and cared for them can no longer see their loved one, because of the actions of some fool online.

Swatting should be the equivalent of 1st /2nd-degree murder for the person who calls, and all other parties that participate should be accessories to 1st /2nd-degree murder, and if specific state laws forbid it, then it should be attempted murder from all parties involved.

Send these people to jail for 5 - 20 years like the criminals they are, because the victim can no longer enjoy the life they once had, and their family can no longer wake up to them anymore.

[PhoenixUp]

That’s a relatively light sentence for essentially murdering a person even if it was indirectly

[Snookies12]

"Relatively" light? What do you mean relatively? This fool should have been locked up for 15 years, not 15 months. It's insane this isn't considered straight up murder. Hoping this idiot gets a lot of attention from fellow inmates at the very least.

[DVAcme]

He will. He's not a career criminal, hes a snot-nosed kid. He'll be someone's bitch within the week.

[rainslacker]

Not sure what the sentence if it went to trial would have been in the state he lived in, but apparently he made a deal for that sentence. Apparently, the original deal was not as hefty, and the judge countered with this one, and it was either accept it for both parties, or said the DA had to take it to court, or drop the case.

I asked my wife, and she looked up the case through some lawyer thing she has, and while it hasn't all gone into record yet, apparently the DA's case only had a few pieces of hard evidence that he instigated the swatting, but nothing that stipulated the actual extent to what he wanted the guy who made the call or how far he should say the situation was. Like, he didn't say that the caller should say that the guy had already killed a hostage, which would cause the SWAT team to be more reactive to any action the suspect made.

She didn't read the whole case. That'd probably take her a while.

Not that I wish to try and justify this guys actions, nor get into a debate about if the one officer reacted appropriately, just what it seems that happened when it comes to the court case.

In the case of the caller, he got 20 years, but had other charges against him as well. Involuntary manslaughter, which this was, doesn't carry such a heavy sentence....and there are multiple levels of manslaughter based on intent, and the circumstances.

[Fist4achin]

A plea and cooperation will go a lot further than getting hammered from a full blown trial and getting sentenced. Also, there is a such thing as an earlier plea working better to a defendants advantage versus pleading right before the trial starts. I'm sure there were other factors involved such as their prior criminal histories.

[Rapidfirepunches]

Your wife can look up case records AND your dad works at Microsoft? Who else in your family is an insider?

[rainslacker]

@Fist

I'm not sure what you're trying to say exactly. If I understand correctly, you're saying that a plea is more likely to lead to a leniant sentence for the defendant?

While that is true, pleas are usually only given when the trial isn't a slam dunk, or there is even a slim chance that reasonable doubt can be found. A trial may not lead to a longer conviction though, as a judge can supercede the DA if they feel the charge isn't correct, and sentencing hearings will determine the sentence based on the evidence presented in the trial.

I really have no idea what all the factors are were in this case. When it comes to law and trials, it seems there are many scenarios that could come up, and while I'm sure there are statistics somewhere dealing with this stuff, I don't know if some things are more likely than others in different situations. Knowing lawyers, they would never commit to saying that something is likely to happen in any given case.

@Rapid

My dad does't work for MS. Never said he did. I work in the industry making tools that we license out to game engine makers or game developers. From that, I have a lot of connections within the industry, and know quite a few things. I rarely share that on here, because I tend to feel I should respect the confidence that I hear such things in, and if I do say things, it's usually factual things that can be found through some deeper research, or broad sweeping generalities that don't implicate anything.

My wife is a lawyer. She has been since I met her. She deals primarily in civil rights law cases, and is a fine litigator in open court. I Often ask her questions on legal matters I see on here, which I then convey here, because sometimes people say things, or wonder things, and I think it's interesting and others might as well. I tend to try and keep it as factual as possible, and if I offer an opinion either way, I make it clear its an opinion, and not the more pragmatic approach to just saying this is how things work.

As far as looking up case records....yeah, anyone really can. Outside of some types of cases, they are public record from a public trial. Criminal trials have public documents to say what happened, and even though there may not have been a trial, the records of what happened, why it happened, the evidence that was there, the decisions of the court, and the statements of the lawyers on why they did things are all part of that record. For obvious reasons, it's not usually as easy as just going to the courthouse and asking for the trial records. There is beuracracy involved, but lawyers look up cases all the time to cite precedence and see how other courts handled similar cases. There are various electronic services out there which make looking up cases easier, with added features like the mystical search engine.

Beyond that, if I have any other insider family members, I really don't know who they are....other than my one uncle, who is a janitor at Nintendo.

[Rapidfirepunches]

@rain

Nobody has ever called me by my first name before. Did we just become best friends?

[rainslacker]

I like to be brief where I can, which isn't usually in my comments.:)

Sorry for being so familiar, didn't mean to offend.

[TheGamez100]

Screw the f***ers that call in a swat and think of it as a joke. This needs more attention with streaming being so popular nowadays.

[rainslacker]

Beyond the terrible things that can come with it, I'm saddened by the fact that people think things like this are appropriate ways to handle a situation. Moreso, in some cases, it's supposed to be a joke, while in others like this one, it's in retaliation.

In cases like this, I really wonder what goes through these people's heads, and what they really hope to gain from it. I don't think the guy who put all this in motion wanted the guy dead...or at least hope...but what exactly would he get from it in the end? Self-gratification that someone else was put through the traumatic experience of having SWAT come into one's hope, yelling and then being questioned about having hostages? Even if the victim didn't lose his life, with his family being shattered fro it, how sad is it that someone would really feel somehow superior over someone else because they did something so cowardly. If I knew this guy, and he said he swatted someone, and nothing terrible had happened, I'd wonder what the hell was wrong with him, and then never want to see him again.

[Immagaiden]

This is going to continue happening until there becomes heavier sentences for this behavior

[MeteorPanda]

to everyone saying thats it. The person who made the call got 20 years
"Tyler Rai Barriss, who Viner hired to make the call, was sentenced in Kansas for the fatal Swatting incident to 20 years in prison. "

[TeamIcoFan]

Still not enough.
Both of them should've gotten life, someone was killed because of this.

[Shane Kim]

Both of them should be hanged. An innocent life was taken because of two dumb @**holes.

[MeteorPanda]

they called the police not an assassin.

[rainslacker]

They called people who make quick decisive decisions that sometimes end up with people being hurt or killed. SWAT isn't trained to resolve a situation peacefully. They're trained to get in, deescalate the situation, and detain suspects, or if detention doesn't seem possible, or possible lives may be at risk through actions by the suspects, to shoot to kill. They don't aim to disarm, or take out a leg. That's just in the movies. They shoot, and you're dead.

The above isn't a commentary on if in this situation the shooting was justified...that's being done on IGN, but rather if just because they called the police, it wasn't potentially just like calling an assassin. The person who started all this didn't know what was going on in this persons house. There could have been young kids there. Kids get scared when shit goes down. There could have been a drunk dad with a gun, who could have been shot because he had a gun. Even if he wouldn't have done anything illegal, it could have ended badly in any number of ways.

The police aren't assassins, but SWAT is not going in to respond to a Cops episode level of domestic disputes where the suspects are happy to be on TV. They will be forceful even towards victims until they figure out who is not the victim, because their lives, and the lives of others are on the line. They go in knowing that they may be shot. They go in knowing that there is a good chance they will be shot at. They go in knowing that they are responsible for their fellow officer, and that their fellow officer is responsible for their life. They go in knowing that everyone in the house they go into has their lives in their hands. They don't second guess, but they make mistakes, and calling them sets up a very dangerous scenario for all involved.

[RememberThe357]

SWAT are essentially the police assassins. If your intention is to have SWAT rush someone's house and you don't expect violence, you're massive moron.

[AK91]

There needs to be more harsher repercussions for these kind of people.

[rainslacker]

Unfortunately, the law doesn't always move as fast as society.

[jznrpg]

A death of a person = 15 months . Ok 👌

[Elda]

Girl got a slap on the wrist. Smh.

[PurpHerbison]

Well, the people that do this type of crap are typically the kind that won't last in prison. 15 months will feel like an eternity to him when his soft ass is getting pumped by whoever wants some in general pop. He deserves life, but this will be enough to scar him for the rest of his life.

[NoneYuh]

Haha, rape is funny huh?

[PurpHerbison]

Rape isn't funny. But the reality is he will be an easy target and it will happen several times.

[FlyingFoxy]

While it's not quite the same as hiring a hitman, it's obviously potentially a very dangerous thing to do regardless.. Very stupid.

I think this is their idea of finding fame. Too bad it's the wrong kind of fame, others take selfies in dangerous places and fall off cliffs etc.. And then there's people who do stuff like this.

Secondly, the law is also to blame for shooting the guy, they're not innocent in this either from what I've read, trigger happy comes to mind.

[Artemidorus]

He got off very lightly

[Imalwaysright]

A person's life is worth 15 months in jail? Really? For a verdict like this might as well have saved tax payer money and have no trial at all. This guy should be rotting in jail for at the very least 20 years.

[RememberThe357]

Apparently this was a plea deal, so no trail anyway.

Rainslacker, above, says he read the DA in the case just didn't have enough evidence of intention. Judge made them increase the sentence though, so there's that.

[SoulClaw]

That shit only happens in america and should make you think about it.

[KillBill]

Well we know he will break his probation time and eventually serve longer. Because no way a gamer pulls off that much time without trying to get some game time in. He will be caught trying to cheat the system.

[alexkarkar]

the police is the main culprit here. they are basically free to kill anyone just because of a prank call. jesus.

[carcarias]

I think the sentence should be longer. I know he only encouraged someone else but 15 months that may end up being halved for good behaviour isn't much. Swatting someone is probably more dangerous than drink driving and they hand out longer sentences for that if someone gets killed, don't they? At least I hope they do.

What a strange world we live in. When I started gaming the most competitive thing I can remember was Pong. Maybe someone'd get angry and smack a controller. Now people try to have fully armed police officers storm your house or, in tragic instances like this, have you indirectly murdered. What the hell is going on out there?

[xX1NORM1Xx]

imo they should have got a year for every year they denied the victim.

[Twinblade]

You can't ban somebody from gaming.

[DaniMacYo]

Jesus that’s so sad! Can’t believe some people think it’s okay to do this shit. Also I can’t find information on why the victim was shot in the first place. I’m afraid to call the police nowadays because they seem very trigger happy. Maybe it’s because they all get off and back to work. The whole systems F’d up. Poor fella.

[Chocoburger]

The victim was shot because he wasn't cooperating with the police, he kept putting his hands near his pants waistband just out of panic. The police thought he had a weapon on him, and he refused to lift his hands in the air, eventually they shot him.
He did not have a weapon on him, and he'd still be alive today if he just cooperated and put his hands in the air as they commanded.

[DaniMacYo]

I worked Security with a guy who was an officer for 15 years. He said he was trained to always shoot first. No matter how small the threat may be. He quite because he said he was afraid he might kill someone someday because he’s been ordered to. He said its just the way they’ve been taught to protect them selves first. He also said he’s so thankful he never had to reach for his service weapon.

[rainslacker]

The "shoot first" thing is still highly situational. But, in the heat of the moment, it is a decision that has to be made rather quickly, and police officers are human and make mistakes. The idea isn't to shoot first, but to make sure that the safety of the officer, and innocent people is paramount to their actions. They're taught to react, but also to read the situation quickly before reacting. Much like how soldiers are trained.

They're also trained to shoot where the bullet is most likely to hit, which will be the body of a person, which also happens to be the most likely place that someone can sustain fatal injuries. They aren't trained to try and shoot the gun out of a person's hand, wing their arm so they drop a gun, or shoot them in the leg so they can disable the suspect. That kind of crap only happens in movies, and a wounded suspect can still fire a gun. When that kid came out of the house, every gun on him was aimed at his chest.

That's what some people don't understand when it comes to police shootings. Not that there aren't bad cops out there who try, or do, get away with murder, but that not every shooting by a police officer is them doing it because they are just power hungry or ready to kill. Most police shootings aren't against some innocent person, but rather someone who does something that could be perceived as potentially dangerous. The exceptions of course do exist, but some of the things I've seen make big headlines don't often show the part before the shooting where the suspect was behaving erratically. The ones that show perfectly normal people getting shot, I agree 100% the police officer in question should be tried, but regardless, every discharge of a weapon in the field is investigated, even if it doesn't lead to a shooting.

I'd wager the vast majority of police officers would prefer never to have to draw their gun on another person, because when they do have to draw, the chances that they themselves may be shot go up significantly.

[HighPlayer28]

Damn gaming is becoming more toxic these days. Its a far cry compared to the fun times of the 90s and early 2000.

[Knightofelemia]

So just a slap on the wrist is what this guy got I would have made him pay restitution to the victims family pay for the time the cops wasted and life in prison. You may not have killed the victim but you got someone else to do it its no different then hiring someone to do a hit on someone else.

[Donnie81]

This is what you get when everyone in society gets a trophy for participating. People aren’t learning the valuable lessons that come with failure.
Either way it’s very sad multiple lives are ruined and one lost over such stupidity

[Bleucrunch]

Felony murder rule doesn't apply here??

[Enigma_2099]

Just 15 months. Bulls***.

[AllMightyFox]

This is great news …..

I can have someone murdered by making a phone call and I get a very reduced sentence compared to going through the trouble of killing them myself ….

America is truly amazing

[Rambokind]

15 months for this? My word, what a joke. I hope it's a very hard 15 months, with a cellmate who likes younger men. What a lowlife.

[blacktiger]

That dude that got 15 month better hide when that dude comes out of prison,

[blacktiger]

But we also need to question these dumbass cops,

[ShadowWolf712]

>Accident

Nothing about Swatting is accidental, fam. He got off easy, being frank.

[TengHu]

BRUH...for losing a $1.50 bet?!

And he had enough money to hire someone to make the prank call?! All of that was worth a human life? This guy should be buried under the prison.

[Dom_Estos]

Only in America.

[Rapidfirepunches]

Not enough time to set an example

[danny818]

Only 15 months? Lolp

[Tross]

Why is this a thing? People should not have to die or be put at risk just because they're better than someone else at a game.

[zodiac909]

15 months and 2 year gaming ban, as a result of death?! This is beyond "a slap on the wrist"..this is a kiss on the cheek and "don't do it again."