Everyone knows that swatting is not only stupid, but dangerous and now it's proven so for not only an innocent victim, but for the swatter themselves. A second person has been convicted and sentenced to 15-months in federal prison for their role in a deadly swatting incident that took place in 2017.
It all started with a $1.50 bet. When 20-year-old Shane Gaskill from Wichita, dared his friend, 18-year-old Casey Viner, from Ohio, to swat him. In doing so, he provided an old address. Viner than passed that address on to 25-year-old Tyler Barriss, who made a hoax call to the police, claiming that a hostage situation was underway and that one hostage had already been killed.
Police responded to the call and went to the address given, heavily armed. When the innocent and unaware occupant, 28-year-old Andrew Finch, opened their door, he was shot and later died in hospital.
Bariss plead guilty to his role in the swatting last November and was sentenced to 20 years in jail. Viner has now been given 15-months for his own. He originally plead not-guilty, but switched his plea to guilty earlier this year, in an attempt to ward off jail time.
However, the judge ruled that he should receive a sentence, explaining (via Eurogamer), "We impose sentences not only for what people intend, but what happened."
Gaskill has made a deal for deferred prosecution, which may see the charges dropped.
