Deadly Call of Duty police homicide billed at $5 million years later

On the night of December 28th, 2017 The police killed Andrew Finch, a 28-year-old father of two, shortly after he showed up outside his home in Wichita, Kansas. They were there in response to a clapping scam that grossed over $1.50 call of Duty Bet Finch wasn’t even involved in. Five years and a lengthy legal battle later, the city has finally agreed to settle with Finch’s family for $5 million, one of the largest settlements in state history.

The settlement was announced last week, and stems from a civil lawsuit brought against the police officer who actually pulled the trigger in the country’s first fatal hitting incident. While prosecutors ultimately chose not to press charges against Wichita Police Officer Justin Rapp, Finch’s family later filed their own lawsuit. Despite Rapp’s claim to limited immunity a Federal Court of Justice let the case proceed. The city is now on the hook to pay for the settlement as it anticipates a text message scandal that will expose SWAT members making racist comments and jokes about killing people.

SWAT officers only showed up at Finch’s door that evening after Tyler Barriss, now known as the notorious Bludger and who has made fabricated threats to public safety in the past, informed them a violent hostage situation was taking place. Two Call of Duty: World War II player, Casey Viner and Shane Gaskill got into a fight after betting $1.50 on a match and Barriss asked Gaskill for his address to beat him. Only he didn’t get his address. Gaskill purposely supplied the wrong one after telling Barriss to “please try some shit,” according to court documents.

The police then surrounded Finch’s house. Unarmed and reportedly completely unaware of what was going on, he answered the door and was shot dead shortly afterwards by Rapp, who said he thought Finch was reaching for a gun. Barriss was eventually sentenced to 20 years in prison. Viner was sentenced to 15 months. Gaskill was faced with pending prosecution. Rapp was not charged at all. Instead, he was later promoted.

Swatting incidents are on the rise

Swatten has has become a growing problem in recent years. Twitch streamers often have to deal with fake 911 calls that put their lives and those of others at risk. The Washington Post reported that up to four swattings took place in a single week last summer, with famous streamers relocating over safety concerns and several states scrambling to criminalize the prank calls. But raising awareness of the dangers of beating was also a way to divert blame and responsibility from police departments, which have a disturbing track record of shooting people.

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“Lord. The killing of Finch was one of 23 police shootings in the city of Wichita in the past five years — none of which have been meaningfully investigated or resulted in meaningful disciplining of the officers involved,” said the MacArthur Justice Center, which helped establish the Suit to be brought by the Finch family against the city, registered a press release last week.

The Wichita Eagle reported that Rapp was promoted in 2022, despite previously telling police department supervisors that if he ever ran into Finch’s family at the local Walmart, he would tell them, “I had to shoot your son. I’m over it and you need to get over it too.” A subsequent investigation by the newspaper also revealed that several other officers within the department, including the SWAT team, were involved in a group text exchanging racist memes about George Floyd and congratulating each other on people’s “permanent” de-escalation. Some of the officers involved had also previously shot suspects, including at least one suspect who was unarmed, according to police files.

“I want to express my thanks and gratitude to the activists who have fought for me and my children for five long years,” said Tawny Unruh, the mother of Finch’s two children. said last week. “To the mayor and council who voted for my children, thank you for making sure my family can move on from this nightmare and begin to heal. We will never forget or understand why our Andy had to die, but we are grateful for all the support we have received from our community.”