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Ohio gamer receives 15 months prison sentence for swatting

Ohio gamer receives 15 months prison sentence for swatting

A gamer in Ohio has been sentenced to 15 months in prison following a swatting incident.

As reported by Associated Press, 19-year-old Casey Viner from North College Hill received his sentence following the death of a man in Kansas. On top of his time behind bars, Viner is prohibited from playing games for two years following release.

Viner hired prankster Tyler Barriss to make a fake emergency call to 911, which resulted in a SWAT team fatally shooting Andrew Finch at his home in Wichita. Finch was not involved in the games dispute.

The family of Finch chose to sue both the officers involved and the city of Wichita though the district attorney has refused to charge the officer responsible for shooting Finch.

Shane Gaskill was the intended target, but he gave out his old address which led to Finch. The dispute between Viner and Gaskill occurred over a $1.50 Call of Duty: WWII game bet.

Gaskill was also arrested as a co-conspirator for knowingly giving out his previous address to Bariss, goading him to “try something”. However, Gaskill could have his charges dropped after getting a deal for deferred prosecution.

After pleading guilty to 51 cases of threats and prank calls around the United States, Barriss was sentenced to 20 years in prison. It’s believed to be the longest sentence given for swatting.


Staff Writer

Kayleigh is the Staff Writer for PocketGamer.biz. Besides PGbiz and PCGI she has written as a list writer for Game Rant, rambling about any and all things games related. You can also find her on Twitter talking utter nonsense.