New Netflix series’ first episode focuses on fatal 2017 Wichita swatting case

A new six-part docuseries hit Netflix on Wednesday, and its first episode is a detailed look at the fatal 2017 swatting incident in Wichita that left 28-year-old Andrew Finch dead.

The show, titled “Web of Make Believe: Death, Lies and the Internet,” was made by documentation Brian Knappenberger and focuses on six crimes that were tied to technology and online activity. Episode one, titled “Death by SWAT,” retells the Finch story in detail and includes interviews with Finch’s family members, members of the local media — including The Wichita Eagle’s Dion Lefler — and police body cam footage from the night of the crime.

It also includes a telephone interview with Tyler Barriss, who is serving 20 years in federal prison for his role in the crime, believed to be the nation’s first fatal swatting.

Episode 1 starts with Barriss and details his early life in California, where he lived with his grandmother after his father died and his mother abandoned him. He had dreams of becoming a professional HALO player, the documentary maintains. Instead, he started calling in bomb threats across the country and spent time in jail for those crimes.

After he got out, he became a serial swatter — someone who makes a prank call to the police to get them to respond with full force to a particular address.

On Dec. 28, 2017, two teens got into an argument during a Call of Duty World War II match, and one of them asked Barriss to “swat” the other. But Barriss was given an old address — 1033 W. McCormick — and he gave it to police, claiming a murder and hostage situation was underway.

Finch, who lived at the address, was home with family and friends and was shot by Wichita police officer Justin Rapp within moments of stepping out onto his front porch. Finch had no involvement with the game or ties to the people fighting over it.

The episode uses actors to dramatize the crime and also uses television footage and amateur video from the night of the incident. It follows the story through Finch’s death, the subsequent suicides of both his niece and her boyfriend, Barriss’ arrest, and the district attorney’s decision not to charge Rapp in the shooting.

The entire series is now streaming on Netflix, and subsequent episodes deal with topics such as virtual blackmail and crimes committed by hackers.