California suspect accepts extradition in Kansas 'swatting' case

By Suzannah Gonzales

(Reuters) - A California man suspected of making a hoax call that led police in Kansas to kill an unarmed man will not fight extradition to the Midwestern state, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Tyler Barriss, 25, has waived his right to an extradition hearing, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, Paul Eakins, said. Barriss remains in Los Angeles County jail without bail, prosecutors said.

Authorities suspect Barriss of "swatting," in which a caller falsely reports an emergency requiring a police response, usually by special weapons and tactics, or SWAT, teams.

The 28-year-old victim Andrew Finch was fatally shot by a Wichita police officer after law enforcement officials rushed to his home following a phone call falsely reporting that hostages were being held there.

The victim's family is devastated, said Andrew Stroth, an attorney representing Finch's relatives.

"What happened last week is completely unjustified and unacceptable," Stroth said, adding that Finch's family would be seeking redress against the police.

The Wichita Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

An attorney for Barriss could not immediately be reached.

According to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, Barriss was sentenced to two years and eight months in jail after he pleaded no contest in 2016 to charges of making a false report of a bomb and malicious informing of a false bomb.

(Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago; Editing by Leslie Adler and Alistair Bell)