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An American teenager was sentenced to 15 months in jail for taking part in a joke call that resulted in the death of an innocent man.
Casey Viner, 19, from Ohio, conspired with his fellow player, Tyler Barriss, to launch a so-called "call" to the police.
When calling 911, Barriss claimed that he was holding his family hostage, but when the police visited the address provided, she shot Andrew Finch, a father of two.
The two men admitted to having made the call with another player, Shane Gaskill, while they were playing Call of Duty.
Bariss was sentenced earlier this year to 20 years in prison.
At the hearing, Viner pleaded guilty to conspiracy and obstruction of justice. After his conviction, he will be banned from play for two years.
Viner said that he was "terribly sorry", that he had never wanted anything to happen and he thinks about it every day.
"We are imposing penalties not only for what people want, but for what has happened," said US District Judge Eric Melgren.
How did a joke call kill an innocent man?
A "swatting" call is a hoax call designed for police officers and special tactics (Swat) to raid the target's home.
On December 28, 2017, Barriss told the police that he had shot his father and was holding the rest of his family hostage.
Copyright of the image
Reuters
Tyler Barriss pleaded guilty to 51 counts of indictment
He gave the police what he thought was Mr. Gaskill's address in Kansas.
However, the address provided by Mr. Gaskill was not his, but that of Mr. Finch, 28 years old.
Armed police went to the scene and shot and killed Mr. Finch, who was not involved in any video gaming conflicts.
Police said the officer shot Mr. Finch after he had moved his hands to the waist.
US Attorney Stephen McAllister described the scraping as "reckless, dangerous and, as this case proves, potentially tragic".
The police officer involved was not charged because there was insufficient evidence to show that he acted unreasonably in the context.
"To attack is not a joke and it's not a way to resolve disputes between players," McAllister added, urging players to "control their own community." in order to make sure that the practice of swatting ends once and for all ".
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