A federal grand jury indicted three men this week in a case in which a man in Wichita, Kan., was killed by the police after a fake crime was reported as a prank. The hoax, called swatting in an allusion to SWAT teams, was never meant for the victim, Andrew Finch, 28, though. Now, two men accused of instigating the police response, Tyler Barriss and Casey Viner, and the intended target himself, Shane Gaskill, face a series of federal charges ranging from making false or hoax reports to obstruction of justice, according to a grand jury indictment unsealed on Wednesday. Mr. Barriss is also facing involuntary manslaughter charges in state court. In an interview days after the shooting, Lisa Finch, Mr. Finch’s mother, criticized both the swatters and the police.

Source: New York Times May 24, 2018 20:03 UTC