WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) The City of Wichita has responded to the lawsuit filed by the family of Andrew Finch. The 28-year-old was killed on December 28, 2017, by a Wichita police officer as the result of a swatting call.
In the response filed Friday, the city says officers responded to the Finch home after receiving a phone call from someone who said: "he had shot his father and was holding his mother and brother at gunpoint, had poured gasoline int he house and was threatening further death and injury."
The response says within 30 seconds of police arriving on the scene, a man opened the door and was instructed to "raise his hands and show his hands and was told to 'walk this way'".
The response goes on to say the man disregarded police instructions, "lowered his hands and moved his arms so that he appeared to be drawing a weapon from his right side and raising his arm toward officers."
In the court document, the city says an officer armed with a rifle "perceived that the male presented an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to those officers and fired one shot to protect those officers."
The single gunshot killed Andrew Finch.
The Finch family has called on the city to name that officer, but in the response, the city says it "does not publicly release the names of the officers involved."
Tyler Barriss, the man who prosecutors say placed the swatting call that led police to the Finch home, is currently being held in the Sedgwick County jail on a $500,000 bond.
Charges against him include involuntary manslaughter, giving false alarm, notifying emergency services and interfering with law enforcement, falsely reporting a felony.
