19-year old Ohio resident Casey Viner has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for his involvement in the fatal 2017 Call of Duty swatting incident that led to an innocent man’s death.
This story needs no introduction. The death of a young father, Andrew Finch, over Christmas holidays left people shocked and enraged. Viner had enlisted the help of Tyler Bariss to make a fake emergency call after he lost a $1.50 bet in a Call of Duty match to 20-year-old Shane Gaskill, who passed off Finch’s address as his own to his opponent to bait him into swatting. Bariss has already been sentenced to 20 years in prison as the main accused, with Viner receiving 15 months and an additional punishment of a complete ban on gaming for two years.
Gaskill was also separately charged for his role in the incident but NBC reports that he has struck a deal for deferred prosecution that could lead to charges against him being dropped.
Finch’s family is still struggling to come to terms with what happened on the fateful night when he was sitting at home with his family, and answered the door when law enforcement officers turned up. They have sued the city of Wichita and the officers involved.
The officer who shot Finch has not been charged. According to the police, the officer had reason to believe that Finch was reaching for a weapon when he moved his hand towards his waist while answering the door in a state of confusion.
Our thoughts go out to Finch’s loved ones during this difficult time.
[Source: NBC]
