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Tyler Barriss charged with manslaughter in fatal 'swatting' incident

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The man accused of "swatting" a Wichita, Kansas, home -- resulting in the shooting death of a 28-year-old father of two on Dec. 28 -- has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, reporting a false alarm and interference with a law enforcement officer, according to The Wichita Eagle.

Tyler Barriss, 25, was arrested the afternoon of Dec. 29 in Los Angeles in connection with the crime, and waived extradition to Kansas in a Los Angeles courtroom last week. He was booked in Sedgwick County Jail on Thursday afternoon, according to The Wichita Eagle, and his bond is $500,000.

The involuntary manslaughter charge carries a maximum sentence of 11 years and is a Level 5 felony in Kansas, according to state statutes. Elements of involuntary manslaughter include the death of a person due to reckless actions by the person charged. The minimum sentence is 2½ years.

The false call made by Barriss is believed to have been the result of an online dispute between two Call of Duty players. Barriss, who was allegedly given the address by one of the players and asked to "swat" the home, is suspected to have made the call, claiming to be the perpetrator of a homicide and hostage situation and giving police an address that he believed belonged to the other gamer.

The address was actually the home of Andrew Finch, who opened his front door when he saw that police were outside.

An officer discharged his weapon after Finch reached for his waistband, Deputy Chief Troy Livingston of the Wichita Police Department said during a news conference on Friday. The officer who shot Finch, a 7½-year veteran of the force, is on paid leave pending the investigation.

"Swatting" is the term used when someone calls police with a false report of an ongoing crime. The FBI estimates that there are around 400 cases per year, according to The Associated Press. "Swatting" is a well-known issue in the online streaming community, and multiple videos of streamers getting "swatted" can be found on YouTube.

Barriss was arrested in a Los Angeles transitional recovery center, law enforcement sources told NBC. According to information from the City of Glendale, California, Barriss was previously arrested in October 2015 as a result of a connection to a bomb threat made to ABC Studios.

"Due to the actions of a prankster, we have an innocent victim," Livingston said Friday. "I will tell you that the detectives have done an outstanding job overnight following up leads and looking at different social media. They have some promising information at this time."

Gaming news site Dexerto reported earlier that the dispute between Barriss and the other Call of Duty player occurred after a $1 or $2 online wager match on UMG, a popular video game matchmaking site.

"We woke this morning to horrible news about an innocent man losing his life," UMG vice president Shannon Gerritzen said in a Dec. 29 email to AP. "Our hearts go out to his loved ones. We are doing everything we can to assist the authorities in this matter."

Jacob Wolf and Kevin Hitt contributed to this report.

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