Police detective Justin Rapp killed 28-year-old Andrew Finch on the porch of his home in 2017 in what is now known as the first fatal stroke in the United States. Last week, the Wichita City Council settled a $5 million federal lawsuit against Rapp. according to The Wichita Eagle.
The legal battle lasted five years before the city council voted 6-1 in favor of the settlement.
“It was difficult to say the least,” Finch family spokeswoman AlmaAnn Jones told The Wichita Eagle. “I’ve watched this family go through disappointment after disappointment after disappointment and today we finally came together as a community. We managed that.”
Police were called to Finch’s home after California native Tyler Barriss made a false report to police alleging that a person in the home had killed someone and held others hostage. Barriss made the call through a call of Duty: Second World War Match and was recruited into the storyline by one of the Call of Duty players in that match, Casey Viner. Viner gave Barriss the address believed to be the home of fellow Call of Duty player Shane Gaskill. Finch did not know any of the men and was unaware of the stroke to the police. Viner was sentenced to 15 months in prison. Barriss will serve 20 years in prison.
Rapp was not charged with Finch’s murder, although Finch was unarmed and did not threaten police officers at the scene. The Wichita Police Department did not investigate Rapp for policy violations, and he was later promoted to detective, according to The Wichita Eagle.
Wichita itself will pay $2 million of the settlement, with insurance covering the rest.
The murder shed a national light on the ugly practice of hitting, an unfortunate and dangerous “prank” with a history in gaming culture. It’s used to harass others and it’s becoming increasingly common for people to smack Twitch streamers. 2021 a notorious Rainbow Six siege The scammer sent a fake report to developer Ubisoft Montreal city office.
