‘Swatting’ could be prosecuted as murder under new Kansas House bill

In an effort to stop the dangerous and sometimes deadly hoaxes known as “swatting,” two Wichita lawmakers at opposite ends of the political spectrum have introduced a bill that would allow for murder prosecution if a person dies in a swatting incident.

The bill is in response to the death of Andrew Finch, of Wichita, who was killed by police last month during an incident of swatting – a fake call designed to provoke a special weapons and tactics (or SWAT) team response to a nonexistent emergency.

House Bill 2581 would substantially increase the penalties for swatting, even if it doesn’t end in tragedy like the Finch case.

Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, is co-sponsoring the bill with Rep. John Whitmer, R-Wichita, who often clashes with Carmichael on proposed legislation, and Rep. Patty Markley, R-Overland Park.

“We’re hopeful that a bipartisan approach and an individually introduced bill, with our names on it … will be favorably received,” Carmichael said.

Whitmer said he expects no trouble getting it passed.

“The key also will be to keep it clean and not have poison pills amended on it,” Whitmer said.

The bill updates the state’s false-alarm statute, which was originally written for false fire alarms, Carmichael said.

The key provisions of the bill:

▪  Making any false call to any fire, police or emergency response agency would be a misdemeanor.

▪  The false call would become a felony if the person making the call uses a false identity and/or electronically masks his or her identity.

▪  Penalties escalate if a person is harmed as a result of the false call. If a person is killed, the case could be charged as a Level 2 felony, comparable to second-degree murder.

Prosecutors would also have an option to prosecute swatting fatalities under the state’s murder statutes, Carmichael said.

Wichita has been rocked by the death of Finch, 28, who was killed Dec. 28 on the front porch of his home by a police officer drawn by a swatting call.

A Los Angeles man, Tyler Barriss, 25, is accused of making the bogus call reporting a made-up murder and hostage situation that brought police to Finch’s door.

It apparently began with a dare spinning off a dispute over a $1.50 wager in an online game of Call of Duty. Finch wasn’t part of the game, but apparently, one of the gamers gave Finch’s address to the person who made the swatting call.

“We can’t do anything about the current case,” Whitmer said. “But (HB 2581) would be a deterrent for future cases.”

The enhanced penalties in the bill “obviously should give them pause if they’re thinking about doing it in the future,” he said.

Markley’s district was also victimized by a swatting hoax on Jan. 15, when a man called in a false report that he had killed his wife and would fire on police if they approached the house.

Police responded, but were able to determine that the man at the reported address was innocent and his wife was safe at work.

“Thankfully no one was harmed and the situation was handled appropriately,” Markley said in a written statement. “However, such hoaxes must be met with swift justice. Should an injury or a death occur, via swatting, the caller must be held responsible for their actions as we all are.”

This story was originally published January 30, 2018 at 12:05 PM with the headline "‘Swatting’ could be prosecuted as murder under new Kansas House bill."