Click Your Heels Three Times, Tyler Barriss!

Welcome to Kansas, Tyler Barriss! You now get to wake up in the land of tornados, flying monkeys, and the yellow brick road! You never thought it would happen, did you? Even if your mommy comes up with the money to pay your $500,000 bail and flies to Kansas to bail you out of jail in Sedgwick County, you'll just go to jail in Canada, where you called in a false police report on someone else you didn't like.

Today, inclement weather notwithstanding, Tyler Barriss, the California man who got angry with Andrew Finch, of Wichita, Kansas, and made a false report that sent a SWAT team to Finch's home; where a trigger happy cop shot and killed Finch; was picked up in Los Angeles and flown to Kansas. He is now in the Sedgwick County Detention Center, all 125 pounds of him, on charges of involuntary manslaughter, giving false alarm, and falsely reporting a felony.

While it is wonderful to see accountability in Barriss's case, the police officer who actually committed the murder of Andrew Finch still deserves to be held accountable, as well. We need this officer's name.

Another Kansas Cop

At a time when America has already heard too much about trigger happy police officers, a pig in Wichita, Kansas tips the scale, yet again. In response to an anonymous call that came in from California, phoning in a false police report, the cops in Wichita arrived at what they thought was the address indicated, (it wasn't) and opened fire when the door was answered. Andrew Finch heard noises near his home, and opened his front door; it was that simple. He had no idea that the police were outside his house with weapons drawn. In less than thirty seconds after he opened the door for them, they shot him. It almost appears that they had planned, in advance, to shoot whoever opened the door when they arrived. His children were forced to leave the house and stand outside in frigid weather with no shoes, while these public servants ripped through the house in a frenzied search for anything that might exonerate the pig who pulled the trigger. They ended up taking the screen door. A very important piece of information that has not been shared with the rest of us is the name of the cop who committed this murder. According to police in Wichita, the whole incident was the fault of a prankster in California, who has since been apprehended. As Wichita Police Chief Troy Livingston sees it, none of this was law enforcement's fault or responsibility. While making false statements to law enforcement is a terrible thing to do, no one should have to worry that a cop is going to knock on the door and shoot to kill over something he or she was told by someone else.

Kurt Kerns, the attorney who represents Andrew Finch's family, has given this statement: ..While the family is pleased an alleged swatter was detained, the swatter did not shoot an unarmed man stepping out onto his porch.That was a WPD Officer. While the WPD has attempted to deflect the cause of death to a phone call- Andrew was killed by a bullet fired by an officer who clearly had no cause to fire.
 
Prank or no prank- no officer claimed to have seen a weapon before firing, and that fact alone makes this shooting reckless at best. The family remains hopeful that all responsible are brought to justice including the shooter.