Call of Duty swatting suspect sentenced to prison after guilty plea

Fariha Bhatti Published 19/09/2019

A gamer who played a role in the 2017 swatting death of Andrew Finch has been sentenced to jail time.

Casey S. Viner, who enlisted Tyler Barriss to report a fake crime to police in Wichita, Kansas, has been sentenced to 15 months in prison. He pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and obstruction of justice in April.

The incident began after an argument over a game of Call of Duty: WWII in December 2017.

Viner exchanged words with teammate Shane Gaskill over a case of friendly fire that resulted in a loss. This escalated when Viner threatened Gaskill with swatting. Viner then enlisted Barriss to make a call to police, with Barriss telling 911 that he had killed his father and was holding his family at gunpoint at an address provided by Gaskill.

The address given by Gaskill was one he previously lived at, but was no longer occupying.

Police rushed to the location and surrounded the building. Finch, who was entirely unrelated to the dispute between Viner and Gaskill, was shot on his doorstep by police. He was unarmed.

Viner was sentenced in federal court in Wichita after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy for arranging the swatting, and one count of obstructing justice. He is set to spend 15 months in an Ohio penitentiary in addition to two years of probation. He was also ordered to pay $2,500 in restitution, and is barred from playing video games during his probation.

Barriss pleaded guilty to 51 federal charges in November 2018. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison for both this case, as well as an unrelated incident where he had made a fake bomb threat.

Gaskill is currently on deferred prosecution, which NBC states could lead to his charges being dropped.

Justin Rapp, the police officer who shot and killed Finch, has not faced any charges.

Fariha Bhatti

About Fariha Bhatti

Fariha Bhatti is a long-time gaming writer who loves competitive FPS games and slots with particularly fun themes. She got her start playing classic games developed by SNK, from legendary fighting game series The King of Fighters to challenging platform franchise Metal Slug. She now spends most of her time playing Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 while working her way through new slot releases to find her next favorite. Fariha has been published at PCGamesN, TalkEsport and ONE Esports.

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