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False report led to officer-involved shooting in Kansas

Wichita detectives are looking at phone report
Posted at 9:14 AM, Dec 29, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-29 20:05:14-05

WICHITA, Kansas — The FBI and Wichita police are investigating a fatal officer-involved shooting that happened Thursday night after a false police report of a hostage situation.

A man identified as 28-year-old Andrew Thomas Finch died after an officer fired his weapon in the 1000 block of West McCormick.  

Deputy police chief Troy Livingston said there was a report of a fatal shooting and a hostage situation that led officers to the home. The report turned out to be false. Police took three people from the home into custody for questioning. 

Members of the video gaming community in Wichita have been saying on Twitter that it was a case of one game player calling in a report on another player's home. The practice is called "swatting" where someone calls a false report to get a SWAT team to someone else's home. Livingston said that is one possibility that is being investigated.

Police were expecting to have more details later. The officer involved in the shooting has been placed on administrative leave according to department policy.