The man accused of making the fake emergency call that lead to the fatal police shooting of a Wichita man pleaded not guilty in Sedgwick County Court on Friday.
Tyler Barriss is being charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Barriss is also facing federal charges along with Shane Gaskill and Casey Viner, though only Barriss is facing charges in Sedgwick County.
According to the indictment, Viner recruited Barriss to "swat" Gaskill after a dispute involving an online video game. Gaskill then gave Barriss the wrong address, and Barriss proceded by calling police with a hoax hostage situation.
Soon after, law enforcement arrived at the address of Andrew Finch.
Finch was then fatally shot by Wichita Police Officer Justin Rapp, who thought Finch was drawing a gun. Finch was not involved in the video game dispute.
The jury trial for the county charges is scheduled to begin October 1.
Stephan Bisaha, based at KMUW in Wichita, is an education reporter for the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KMUW, Kansas Public Radio, KCUR and High Plains Public Radio covering health, education and politics. Follow him on Twitter @SteveBisaha. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to the original post. To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.
