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California Man Pleads Guilty in Deadly Wichita Swatting Case

36 points by lnguyen 8y ago

msla 8y ago
One of these days, there's going to be a swatting case that's deadly for the police.
- Eleopteryx 8y ago
  That will become a precedent for why law enforcement needs to be even more militaristic.
- kickopotomus 8y ago
  Not swatting, but no-knock raids have gone badly for the police before[0]. [0] https://newsmaven.io/pinacnews/courtroom-files/texas-man-found-not-guilty-for-shooting-three-cops-during-noknock-raid-ehraX84ZEUi9Q0___1p4XA/ https://newsmaven.io/pinacnews/courtroom-files/texas-man-fou...
  - PhasmaFelis 8y ago
    And there, as here, the police refused to accept any responsibility for their actions.
bootsz 8y ago
> A man who came outside to face police, however, had done nothing wrong and did not know about the swatting call. As he stepped onto the porch, police told him to put up his hands. When he unexpectedly dropped his hands, he was shot and killed. The number of times I've read an account of this kind of scenario playing out in the past few years is absolutely mind-boggling and depressing. The fact that in the US you can so easily be shot to bits by police just by accidentally making a small incorrect movement is just insane to me. I understand that police face real threats and need to take precautions to protect their own lives, but surely there must a better system to accomplish this other than requiring someone to immediately perform a sequence of body movements without making a single mistake or else you kill them.
- cypherg 8y ago
  Non-deadly force has been completely ignored. Why not just incapacitate the suspect?
  - Analemma_ 8y ago
    With the way incentives are set up right now, there’s no reason to. For all practical purposes, police are completely immune to any consequences of unjustified killings– DA’s never ever prosecute cops and internal affairs departments are do-nothing bodies designed only to make it look like there’s some accountability– so there’s no reason to not always use the maximum amount of force “just in case”.
    - erichurkman 8y ago
      Or, if you do get fired, you just move to the police department in the town next door, or from city to county, or county to state. It's the standard practice for communities with no incentive to prosecute (like the Vatican shuffling around rapist priests and bishops instead of bringing them to judgment).
  - bootsz 8y ago
    Exactly. Surely we can figure out ways to incapacitate without killing. There are already options (eg tasers). If for some reason the existing tech isn't effective enough, well then too bad, that's what you get until we invent something better. Take all that govt money pouring into militarization of police and instead use it to innovate in non-lethal methods.
  - foxyv 8y ago
    Tasers tend to have problems with clothing and distance, CS is easy to deal with if the person is trained, and bean bags are ineffective against large targets. Non-lethal force is useful in cases where the police have no reason to believe the other person is armed. It works sometimes but often it doesn't. Police and military are even trained to resist non-lethal chemical attacks like CS gas very successfully. When a person is armed with contact weapon like a knife or club, non-lethal is usually only used when a lethal option is in place.
sorokod 8y ago
What happened to the policeman who did the actual killing?
- zimpenfish 8y ago
  Looks like "nothing" - the DA declined to charge him and whilst there was an internal investigation, that doesn't seem to have gone anywhere either.
  - sorokod 8y ago
    The contrast between the fate of the swatter and the killer is quite... striking. Makes it look as if police has no agency not to kill.
    - goldenkey 8y ago
      "When crime is acceptable, make no mistake.. the criminals will be the ones wearing the uniforms and badges of honor." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynwood_Vikings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynwood_Vikings
  - sorokod 8y ago
    Indeed: https://www.kansas.com/news/local/crime/article208738719.html https://www.kansas.com/news/local/crime/article208738719.htm...
- Mc_Big_G 8y ago
  Probably a promotion.
- PhasmaFelis 8y ago
  Absolutely nothing, and both the city and the department have refused to release his name (though it's gone public regardless) or discuss him at all. IIRC, the police chief's statement made it clear that neither the officer nor the department was to blame for anything. Which means this is going to keep happening. There's no incentive to change behavior on the individual level, or training on the department level.
danielvf 8y ago
The man who pled guilty was calling in a swatting or a bomb threat every two to three days for the three months before he was caught. It took someone dying to actually get a serious investigation. - Initial charges (including twitter logs, 911 call transcript) https://regmedia.co.uk/2018/05/24/barrissindictment.pdf https://regmedia.co.uk/2018/05/24/barrissindictment.pdf - 46 additional charges for bomb threats and other swattings. https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/5019352/Barriss-Information-10-24-18.pdf https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/5019352/Barriss-I...
opwieurposiu 8y ago
What about this: A device that uses a camera and laser galvo to temporarily blind people by scanning a laser in their face. If someone is blind then they can't aim a gun. This could be useful for both police wanting protection from citizens and visa versa.

36 points by lnguyen 8y ago

msla 8y ago

One of these days, there's going to be a swatting case that's deadly for the police.

Eleopteryx 8y ago
That will become a precedent for why law enforcement needs to be even more militaristic.
kickopotomus 8y ago
Not swatting, but no-knock raids have gone badly for the police before[0]. [0] https://newsmaven.io/pinacnews/courtroom-files/texas-man-found-not-guilty-for-shooting-three-cops-during-noknock-raid-ehraX84ZEUi9Q0___1p4XA/ https://newsmaven.io/pinacnews/courtroom-files/texas-man-fou...
- PhasmaFelis 8y ago
  And there, as here, the police refused to accept any responsibility for their actions.

bootsz 8y ago

> A man who came outside to face police, however, had done nothing wrong and did not know about the swatting call. As he stepped onto the porch, police told him to put up his hands. When he unexpectedly dropped his hands, he was shot and killed. The number of times I've read an account of this kind of scenario playing out in the past few years is absolutely mind-boggling and depressing. The fact that in the US you can so easily be shot to bits by police just by accidentally making a small incorrect movement is just insane to me. I understand that police face real threats and need to take precautions to protect their own lives, but surely there must a better system to accomplish this other than requiring someone to immediately perform a sequence of body movements without making a single mistake or else you kill them.

cypherg 8y ago
Non-deadly force has been completely ignored. Why not just incapacitate the suspect?
- Analemma_ 8y ago
  With the way incentives are set up right now, there’s no reason to. For all practical purposes, police are completely immune to any consequences of unjustified killings– DA’s never ever prosecute cops and internal affairs departments are do-nothing bodies designed only to make it look like there’s some accountability– so there’s no reason to not always use the maximum amount of force “just in case”.
  - erichurkman 8y ago
    Or, if you do get fired, you just move to the police department in the town next door, or from city to county, or county to state. It's the standard practice for communities with no incentive to prosecute (like the Vatican shuffling around rapist priests and bishops instead of bringing them to judgment).
- bootsz 8y ago
  Exactly. Surely we can figure out ways to incapacitate without killing. There are already options (eg tasers). If for some reason the existing tech isn't effective enough, well then too bad, that's what you get until we invent something better. Take all that govt money pouring into militarization of police and instead use it to innovate in non-lethal methods.
- foxyv 8y ago
  Tasers tend to have problems with clothing and distance, CS is easy to deal with if the person is trained, and bean bags are ineffective against large targets. Non-lethal force is useful in cases where the police have no reason to believe the other person is armed. It works sometimes but often it doesn't. Police and military are even trained to resist non-lethal chemical attacks like CS gas very successfully. When a person is armed with contact weapon like a knife or club, non-lethal is usually only used when a lethal option is in place.

sorokod 8y ago

What happened to the policeman who did the actual killing?

zimpenfish 8y ago
Looks like "nothing" - the DA declined to charge him and whilst there was an internal investigation, that doesn't seem to have gone anywhere either.
- sorokod 8y ago
  The contrast between the fate of the swatter and the killer is quite... striking. Makes it look as if police has no agency not to kill.
  - goldenkey 8y ago
    "When crime is acceptable, make no mistake.. the criminals will be the ones wearing the uniforms and badges of honor." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynwood_Vikings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynwood_Vikings
- sorokod 8y ago
  Indeed: https://www.kansas.com/news/local/crime/article208738719.html https://www.kansas.com/news/local/crime/article208738719.htm...
Mc_Big_G 8y ago
Probably a promotion.
PhasmaFelis 8y ago
Absolutely nothing, and both the city and the department have refused to release his name (though it's gone public regardless) or discuss him at all. IIRC, the police chief's statement made it clear that neither the officer nor the department was to blame for anything. Which means this is going to keep happening. There's no incentive to change behavior on the individual level, or training on the department level.

danielvf 8y ago

The man who pled guilty was calling in a swatting or a bomb threat every two to three days for the three months before he was caught. It took someone dying to actually get a serious investigation. - Initial charges (including twitter logs, 911 call transcript) https://regmedia.co.uk/2018/05/24/barrissindictment.pdf https://regmedia.co.uk/2018/05/24/barrissindictment.pdf - 46 additional charges for bomb threats and other swattings. https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/5019352/Barriss-Information-10-24-18.pdf https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/5019352/Barriss-I...

opwieurposiu 8y ago

What about this: A device that uses a camera and laser galvo to temporarily blind people by scanning a laser in their face. If someone is blind then they can't aim a gun. This could be useful for both police wanting protection from citizens and visa versa.