The continued threat of ‘swatting’ in 2022

The infamous Tyler Barris case

Easily the most recognisable and infamous case of swatting involves Tyler Barris, and just so happens to be grabbing headlines now, thanks to Netflix’s new true-crime series Web of Make Believe: Death, Lies, and the Internet.

Barris grew up in LA, California, and spent the majority of his adolescent years playing competitive video games. Upon failing with his aspirations to become a professional Halo player, he started using swatting to disrupt others at these events.

This quickly spiraled into something of a full-time vocation, in which Barris – who became known online as ‘SWAuTistic’ – built a following through swatting regularly. On numerous occasions, he made mainstream news stories and even charged others for his swat services.

Eventually serving three years (over two prison stints) for making fake bomb threats to KABC-TV and then breaking into his grandmother’s house, Barris moved into a homeless shelter where he would make his worst mistake.

After a Call of Duty dispute between teenagers Casey Viner and Shame Gaskill in which a single dollar wager wasn’t fulfilled, Viner reached out to Barris to acquire his swatting ‘expertise.’

Upon noticing that this swatting alias had started following his Twitter account, Gaskill sent a message to Barris with a fake Wichita address and dared him to ‘try some shit.’

Barris proceeded to call 911 claiming someone named ‘Ryan’ at the Wichita address had shot his father and was holding other members of the family hostage.

When the police arrived and surrounded the scene, father of two Justin Rapp (28) – who was in no way affiliated with either of the teenagers or Barris – was shot shortly after opening the front door. He would eventually die from his injury in hospital.

In 2019, Barris was eventually extradited to Kansas and indicted on charges relating to swatting along with Viner and Gaskill. He pled guilty to 51 of them and was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.

Hahaaaaa good. He should be charged with murder pic.twitter.com/H7lQdi1W42

— Immortal 🇺🇸 (@ImmortalAvatar2) December 29, 2017

Changes to policy in 2022

The tragic case of Andrew Finch drew global attention and sparked some wholesale changes to the policy around swatting, which had remained vague up to that point at best. There’s still more to do though.

As recently as 2020, Mark Herring, a sixty-year-old man from Bethpage, Tennessee, died of a heart attack when police barged into his home. They were responding to unfounded reports of a woman being killed, and again this was traced back to a ‘serial swatter’ named Shane Sonderman.

The FBI estimates that approximately 400 cases of swatting occur annually, though experts claim that improved authoritative measures are helping to slash the number of incidents.

In Seattle, its police department has launched a specialist program for responders and 911 operators which is being shared with law enforcement across the country.

This is paired with a registry that allows citizens to forewarn authorities that they’re likely to become a target for swatting. Furthermore, once they’re targeted they can’t be harassed again.

Since swatting is a massive felony they will expend resources to find the origination of the call. I’ve receive death threats before where the police found the person behind VPN and telephone getaway. They have resources now they didn’t years ago. But get registered as high risk.

— Barnacules Nerdgasm (@Barnacules) June 19, 2022

After trained dispatchers search for clues to out instances of swatting, all information is then relayed to first responders so a change of tact can be made if necessary.

Other states such as Ohio have also been inspired to elevate swatting beyond just a misdemeanor.

In-fact, last month state senators introduced a bill to make swatting a third-degree felony, which can bring in sentences from anywhere between two to five years throughout the US.

Armed with improved knowledge and with the threat of more severe punishments, it seems we’re better equipped than ever to get a handle on the issue. Prominent US lawmakers, however, remain convinced that a uniform federal definition is key to stamping it out for good.

‘If we can speak a common language, we can hopefully press lawmakers to have a federal definition and have swatting become a set crime with set penalties’ says Seattle PD’s public affairs director, Sean Whitcomb.