Man shot dead by cops in ‘swatting’

A man has been shot dead by police in the US city of Wichita, Kansas after an unknown person called emergency services to report a fake shooting and hostage situation, police said on Friday.The Thursday night incident was a “tragic” example of “swatting” in which pranksters call 911 to report a made-up incident in the hope that a victim’s home will be raided by a police SWAT team, Wichita deputy police chief Troy Livingston told reporters.“The incident is a nightmare for everyone involved,” he said. “Due to the actions of a prankster we have an innocent victim.”“If the false police call had not been made, we would not have been there,” he added.He did not identify the victim, but he was named by local newspaper The Wichita Eagle as 28-year-old Andrew Finch, a father of two.Livingston played audio of one of the 911 calls made by the prankster to police, in which he says he has shot his father in the head and is holding his mother and younger brother at gunpoint in a closet. He also threatens to set the house on fire.Livingston said that when officers arrived at the address given to them during the call they were prepared for a hostage situation and positioned themselves around the house.When a man appeared in the doorway, police told him to put his hands in the air.While he initially obeyed as he walked out, the man then put his hands down towards his waistband again.When he suddenly raised his hands, an officer shot him fearing that he had pulled a gun, Livingston said. The man was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.Livingston played grainy body camera footage of the incident, which shows a porch in the distance and a figure barely visible before a shot rings out.The officer involved, a seven-and-a-half-year veteran of the police department, had been placed on administrative leave, Livingston said.He did not comment on reports that the prank call had been placed as a result of a feud between gamers.The Daily Haze website posted screenshots of tweets which suggested the incident was sparked by a dispute between people playing Call of Duty, in which one of those involved gave the prankster the wrong address, one which was near to his own.Finch’s mother, Lisa Finch, told the Eagle that her son had gone to investigate after seeing flashing blue and red lights outside their house. “I heard my son scream, I got up and then I heard a shot,” she said.“The police said, ‘Come out with your hands up,’” she said. “[The officer] took me, my roommate and my granddaughter, who witnessed the shooting and had to step over her dying uncle’s body.”The family were then handcuffed and taken to the police station for questioning, she said.“What gives the cops the right to open fire?” Finch asked. “Why didn’t they give him the same warning they gave us? That cop murdered my son over a false report,” she said.She said she wanted both the prankster who called police and the officer who fired the fatal shot to be held accountable.She also said that her son had never been a gamer. “He doesn’t play video games,” Finch said. “He has better things to do with his time.”