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A 28-year-old Kansas man was shot and killed by police officers on the evening of Dec. 28 after someone fraudulently reported a hostage situation ongoing at his home. The false report was the latest in a dangerous hoax known as “swatting,” wherein the perpetrator falsely reports a dangerous situation at an address with the goal of prompting authorities to respond to that address with deadly force. This particular swatting reportedly originated over a $1.50 wagered match in the online game Call of Duty. Compounding the tragedy is that the man killed was an innocent party who had no part in the dispute.
The following is an analysis of what is known so far about the incident, as well as a brief interview with the alleged and self-professed perpetrator of this crime.
It appears that the dispute and subsequent taunting originated on Twitter. One of the parties to that dispute — allegedly using the Twitter handle “SWauTistic” — threatened to swat another user who goes by the nickname “7aLeNT“. @7aLeNT dared someone to swat him, but then tweeted an address that was not his own.
Swautistic responded by falsely reporting to the Kansas police a domestic dispute at the address 7aLenT posted, telling the authorities that one person had already been murdered there and that several family members were being held hostage.
Image courtesey @mattcarries
A story in the Wichita Eagle says officers responded the 1000 block of McCormick and got into position, preparing for a hostage situation.
“A male came to the front door,” Livingston said. “As he came to the front door, one of our officers discharged his weapon.”
“Livingston didn’t say if the man, who was 28, had a weapon when he came to the door, or what caused the officer to shoot the man. Police don’t think the man fired at officers, but the incident is still under investigation, he said. The man, who has not been identified by police, died at a local hospital.
“A family member identified that man who was shot by police as Andrew Finch. One of Finch’s cousins said Finch didn’t play video games.”
Not long after that, Swautistic was back on Twitter saying he could see on television that the police had fallen for his swatting attack. When it became apparent that a man had been killed as a result of the swatting, Swautistic tweeted that he didn’t get anyone killed because he didn’t pull the trigger (see image above).
Swautistic soon changed his Twitter handle to @GoredTutor36, but KrebsOnSecurity managed to obtain several weeks’ worth of tweets from Swautistic before his account was renamed. Those tweets indicate that Swautistic is a serial swatter — meaning he has claimed responsibility for a number of other recent false reports to the police.
Among the recent hoaxes he’s taken credit for include a false report of a bomb threat at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that disrupted a high-profile public meeting on the net neutrality debate. Swautistic also has claimed responsibility for a hoax bomb threat that forced the evacuation of the Dallas Convention Center, and another bomb threat at a high school in Panama City, Fla, among others.
After tweeting about the incident extensively this afternoon, KrebsOnSecurity was contacted by someone in control of the @GoredTutor36 Twitter account. GoredTutor36 said he’s been the victim of swatting attempts himself, and that this was the reason he decided to start swatting others.
He said the thrill of it “comes from having to hide from police via net connections.” Asked about the FCC incident, @GoredTutor36 acknowledged it was his bomb threat. “Yep. Raped em,” he wrote.
“Bomb threats are more fun and cooler than swats in my opinion and I should have just stuck to that,” he wrote. “But I began making $ doing some swat requests.”
Asked whether he feels remorse about the Kansas man’s death, he responded “of course I do.”
But evidently not enough to make him turn himself in.
“I won’t disclose my identity until it happens on its own,” the user said in a long series of direct messages on Twitter. “People will eventually (most likely those who know me) tell me to turn myself in or something. I can’t do that; though I know its [sic] morally right. I’m too scared admittedly.”
Update, 7:15 p.m.: A recording of the call to 911 operators that prompted this tragedy can be heard at this link. The playback of the recorded emergency calls starts around 10 minutes into the video.
ANALYSIS
As a victim of my own swatting attack back in 2013, I’ve been horrified to watch these crimes only increase in frequency ever since — usually with little or no repercussions for the person or persons involved in setting the schemes in motion. Given that the apparent perpetrator of this crime seems eager for media attention, it seems likely he will be apprehended soon. My guess is that he is a minor and will be treated with kid gloves as a result, although I hope I’m wrong on both counts.
Let me be crystal clear on a couple of points. First off, there is no question that police officers and first responders across the country need a great deal more training to bring the number of police shootings way down. That is undoubtedly a giant contributor to the swatting epidemic.
Also, all police officers and dispatchers need to be trained on what swatting is, how to spot the signs of a hoax, and how to minimize the risk of anyone getting harmed when responding to reports about hostage situations or bomb threats. Finally, officers of the peace who are sworn to protect and serve should use deadly force only in situations where there is a clear and immediate threat. Those who jump the gun need to be held accountable as well.
But that kind of reform isn’t going to happen overnight. Meanwhile, knowingly and falsely making a police report that results in a SWAT unit or else heavily armed police response at an address is an invitation for someone to get badly hurt or killed. These are high-pressure situations and in most cases — as in this incident — the person opening the door has no idea what’s going on. Heaven protect everyone at the scene if the object of the swatting attack is someone who is already heavily armed and confused enough about the situation to shoot anything that comes near his door.
In some states, filing a false police report is just a misdemeanor and is mainly punishable by fines. However, in other jurisdictions filing a false police report is a felony, and I’m afraid it’s long past time for these false reports about dangerous situations to become a felony offense in every state. Here’s why.
If making a fraudulent report about a hostage situation or bomb threat is a felony, then if anyone dies as a result of that phony report they can legally then be charged with felony murder. Under the doctrine of felony murder, when an offender causes the death of another (regardless of intent) in the commission of a dangerous crime, he or she is guilty of murder.
Too often, however, the perpetrators of these crimes are minors, and even when they’re caught they are frequently given a slap on the wrist. Swatting needs to stop, and unfortunately as long as there are few consequences for swatting someone, it will continue to be a potentially deadly means for gaining e-fame and for settling childish and pointless ego squabbles.
Tags: 7alent, SWATting, swautistic
Would this outcome have occurred if the police were more circumspect? Seems to be shoot first and ask questions afterwards.
Hundreds if not thousands of SWATing attacks have happened by now. It is a miracle that this is the very first person who was killed.
Well, that’s the American way isn’t it?
I have received thousands of those terrorist phone calls. The FBI thinks that’s mega funny….
Inspector Didi
“Bomb threats He said the thrill of it “
Then the Feds come breaking down your door and then you realize the seriousness of what you did.
Both cop and perpetrators of hoax need to pay with incarceration…
Was hoping you’d weigh in on this one. Thanks for your insights. Keep ’em coming! And BTW, happy 8th anniversary, with many more returns!
Looks like SWATting is a felony in my US state (MA). But the law is drawn more for bomb threats. Needs clarification.
https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIV/TitleI/Chapter269/Section14
So as a Police Officer, I disagree on your analysis of Police. Its easy to judge us based off the media reports. I read your blog regularly and I agree on most of your stuff, however, not this. I work a large agency in a large city, so maybe my training is better than most.. but Police arent the donut eating morons the media and television has you to believe. We also don’t have the advanced technology that CSI Miami and other shows have.
We do vet all the info we can, SWATing wasn’t when false reports started. Police have dealt with false calls probably since the invention of the telephone dispatch center.
Anyway, if you want to see a change, then make that change. Create a training for law enforcement, instead of acting like Police are dumb trigger happy idiots who aren’t smart enough to tell when a call is fake.
Even when we feel a call is fake we still have to respond as if it was real, because many Police have been called to fake calls only to be ambushed. That is in the terrorist playbook.. create a mass incident, wait for emergency response, them use IEDs, etc.
PS, for those that think Police shoot first and ask questions later.. stop believing the media spin. In a situation as described above, we secure the scene and wait for SWAT. If its an active shooter most agencies train for the first few officers to immediately go in. Analysis of active shooters show that wasted time equals more deaths of innocents.
Also, in situations like my agency. Our dispatch is civilian, they get what info they can. We respond and often figure things out on the fly. We confirm or dispel the call once we arrive, then adjust from there. We don’t have the opportunity to go to the precinct and write out a plan, we have to respond and do things on the fly. Often our actions are based off the information we have at the time.. not the information that gets released at the end of the investigation. Hind sight is always 20/20.
While I understand that we were not there I did not see Krebs categorizing the police in anyway. I will though. The police are trained to escalate things in a militaristic manner. That is fact. There are ways of gathering info on site without kicking in the door guns drawn firing at everything that moves. We see it far too often. You can argue about officer safety but when innocent civilians are killed at a much higher rate than police there is a problem. They could have rolled a squad car over and knocked or taken a look but the police want to roll out their big guns.
I am making assumptions but those assumptions are based on other similar cases and I am sure we will see the same here.
Oh please, spare me the “we’re professionals” talk. No, when professionals have, in their midst, people who screw up under pressure, then those people need a new profession. Instead, they may be fired and end up in the department of another jurisdiction. The problem is the lack of standards enforced by and the masking of poor performers by your unions, specifically the FOP, I’ve had several close associates over the years complain about steroid-fueled screwballs who they don’t want to work with but who are able to pass the psych exams. Get your own house clean, why should citizens suffer what you can’t take care of!
I think you may be one of the single digit percentage aberrations in your industry, Bill. My experience has been that regardless of city -and I’ve resided in many- By and large, law enforcement is comprised of trigger happy bullies tripping on power that do, in fact, shoot first and ask questions later. Those among your ilk ought to be advocating for change rather than foisting it upon civilians who are more likely to be gunned down for absolutely no reason by law enforcement.
Sorry I forgot to give a link to the Guardian article.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/09/the-counted-police-killings-us-vs-other-countries
A very well thought out and accurate response, thank you WilliamZ for your input. I find that a majority of media stories are spun to make people look stupid, “trigger happy” and basically more dramatic that the reality. That, unfortunately, is what sells papers. As long as we continue to tune it to literal “fake news” and allow them to count our view to their advertisers, this trend will continue.
Brian, thank you for bringing this to light, your keeping us on top of these things is much appreciated.
The Guardian published a good article about police shootings and police killings from around the world in 2015. The stats are very revealing, it probably won’t come as a surprise that California compared to Canada, although have the similar populations, has three times the number of police shooting deaths. Similar comparisons with other countries, both with and without strong gun laws, draw similar conclusions. Personally I think it is because of US style “shock and awe” training. I see similar things on YouTube with some US police feeling like they have to dominate every situation they have, regardless of whether it is warranted. Some of the police behaviour I have seen on YouTube would get you suspended or even fired in other countries.
Sorry I forgot to post the link to the Guardian article.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/09/the-counted-police-killings-us-vs-other-countries
To those engaging in cop bashing, which is soooo in fashion these days, go spend a day or two in their shoes and see what they have to deal with on a day to day, sometimes even minute to minute basis. Unless you have done that, you probably have no idea what you are talking about and should take the cotton out of your ears, put it in your mouth, sit down, shut up and listen for a change. Blaming anyone but the swatter is beyond ludicrous.
Sorry to be so abrasive, but the stupidity of cop bashing has gotten way way out of hand in our society. I would expect a little more sense here.
As always, your insights are ‘spot on’ and welcome.
I suppose the people who get a charge out of ‘swatting’ have a similar psychological profile to fire-starters.
At a minimum, that means they are suffering from a mental illness and, if people or property are hurt as a result of their actions, they damn sure should be charged as felons.
Here’s a starting point:
http://kslegislature.org/li_2012/b2011_12/statute/021_000_0000_chapter/021_059_0000_article/021_059_0004_section/021_059_0004_k/
And yes, we are in Kansas… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felony_murder_rule_(Kansas)
So readers, continue your research from there to complete the article. The incomplete research in the article is at the point where “Analysis” section starts, which is really more of just personal ranting about “some states.” Perhaps after the new year, BK will look into Kansas and Wichita law to complete the article before letting his personal feelings as a legitimate victim interfere with his usually good reporting.
Agreed! I think BK does great reporting and stays neutral on most topics. His bias of the Police is off balance. I see he tried to stay neutral, but I feel like he rushed to conclusion that the Police are ill-trained.
As for the law on this, in most states if you commit a crime that results in the death of someone you can be charged for that death.. for example, two guys rob a bank with guns, one is killed by police.. the other can be charged for it. This is because they created the situation that caused this.
In this case, the guy who gave the bad address and the guy who SWAT’ed could both faced charges and I am sure that is coming. An innocent man is dead and an officer has to live with that, due to these idiots playing internet cowboys.
‘An innocent man is dead and an officer has to live with that, due to these idiots playing internet cowboys.’
A police officer, sworn to enforce the law, killed an innocent man. He gets to live with it, likely without any major penalty. While someone, who likely didn’t even do anything wrong, was killed in his own home. Yes, the ‘idiots playing internet cowboys’ should face felony charges over the death, but so should the officer.
I wouldn’t really call that section a rant. He didn’t look up the specific law for Kansas which is a case of incomplete research but you really make it look worse than it is. He’s right that in some states that creating a false report is a misdemeanor and in others it’s a felony. He’s also right that we tend to treat minors with kiddie gloves and that police need to be held more accountable and how to deescalate situations. These are all things that the general public would agree upon unless you happen to be a cop.
Dear William Z, you miss the whole point. Your Team might do great job, but that was not on this case. Making fake calls like this should have minium 16 years (like felany ?) If victim dies, then face call should be minium 25v as partaking murder. This is not a joke and this should be taken seriously.
Since you can spoof tel numbers via VOIP, how can it be stopped or reduced? Is there a tech solution?
My question is did this person even bother to VOIP given his Twitter activity. Much like POTUS, the tweets are evidence.
There is no technological way to PREVENT caller ID spoofing. This is because so many billions of legitimate calls transit VoIP Least Cost Routing providers.
The telecom industry is working on a way (called STIR) to verify real caller ID numbers on VoIP calls; but it is 1-3 years away, participation is voluntary, and it will only work on certain networks. This project will not be effective. I will be like locking two of the four doors to your house and thinking this will reduce your chance of being burglarized by 50%.
There is, however, an effective way to STOP this type of crime. You put the people who do it in jail. This will deter others.
Even though there is no way to distinguish between a VoIP call with illicit intent and a legitimate call at the moment the call is made, every single VoIP call can be traced back to its source.
The reason why these swatting calls happen–not to mention the hundreds of millions of dollars in tele-fraud–is because Police exert very little effort in investigating any crime that is not directly observed by a patrol officer.
As this reminds me very much of Lizard Squad given the actors twitter handle and the fact that he is repredenting ‘Drill Squad’ I imagine that he is not alone and other things similar to Lizard Squad could be present. Ddos, etc.
Dear William Z…while I certainly agree that police have a dangerous and difficult job most of us who think about the big picture of police actions today conclude that police are underfunded, undertrained, under equipped and in a great many cases under educated for the complex mix of human conditions they encounter.
In this case it appears that there is poor Swat training involved and poor training for 911 operators to try and verify the call while Swat is enroute. What Swat officer has the blank check to shoot without an order from the team leader? Where was the designated expert shooter covering the front door with a spotter communicating with the team lead? No shot should have been fired until the spotter saw a gun and alerted the team lead who then decides to respond or not. Where is the de-escalation training put to use first? Where is the attempt to call the number at that house if there is one? Did the 911 center call back the number that was displayed as the calling number to verify the number exists and call origination/location? The questions go on and on.
An innocent person is dead because a criminal called in a false report of serious crimes in progress. That person, in my opinion, is guilty of at least felony murder. In addition, the officer with the nervous trigger finger should be fired. S/he has no business in that role if this is how they react under training that should have told them to wait for the order.
If the SWAT team had a good reason to shoot, I’m sure that reason would have been stated immediately. Instead, we get, “what caused the officer to shoot the man. Police don’t think the man fired at officers, but the incident is still under investigation.” Of course the person who made the false call should be held criminally responsible but so should the cop if it turns out he was trigger-happy or botched.
If the police would, you know, get on a bullhorn telling everyone to come out with their hands up instead of, you know, blasting them when they open the door or take their armored vehicles, grenade launchers and various other military surplus to your door and you to blow everything to smithereens, innocent people would not be murdered by police that have had an IQ cap for over a decade and are easily fooled by swatters. And if, you know, the cops would call the residence in question to get a heads up on what’s going on instead of, you know, on a mission to kill because hostage situations are their wettest dreams and give them the hardest excuse to use grenades boners and license to kill hard-ons there would, you know, be less innocent and unarmed young fathers of two babies being murdered. Did I forget to mention police have had an IQ cap for over a decade? Trump’s response to this is preordained and he’s part of the swatting problem, Google search for TRUMP ENCOURAGES BRUTALITY. If you want to stop swatting you have to tell Trump to fuck himself and get your congressmen and congresswomen to tell him to go fuck himself.