WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — An Ohio gamer upset over a $1.50 bet in an online game pleaded guilty Wednesday to asking a prankster to make a bogus emergency call, then tried to destroy his text communications so as to hide his involvement when he realized from news reports that the antic had gotten a Kansas man killed by police.
Police body camera images of The December 2018 fatal response to a hoax call -courtesy Wichita Police
Casey Viner, 19, of North College Hill, Ohio, changed his plea to guilty on charges of conspiracy and obstruction of justice. He initially pleaded not guilty.
The plea deal jointly recommends two years of probation, although the judge is not bound by that sentencing recommendation. The deal also recommends Viner be barred from online gaming for 2 years.
The death of Andrew Finch, 28, in Wichita drew national attention to the practice of “swatting,” a form of retaliation in which someone reports a false emergency to get authorities, particularly a SWAT team, to descend on an address.
Authorities said Viner recruited Tyler R. Barriss to “swat” an opponent in Wichita over a $1.50 bet stemming from the game Call of Duty: WWII. But the address they used was old.
Barriss, a 26-year-old Los Angeles man with an online reputation for “swatting,” called police from Los Angeles on Dec. 28, 2017, to falsely report a shooting and kidnapping at that Wichita address. Finch, who was not involved in the video game or dispute, was shot by police when he opened the door.
The intended target in Wichita, Shane Gaskill, 20, is charged as a co-conspirator in the case. Authorities said Viner provided Barriss with an address for Gaskill that Gaskill had previously given to Viner. Prosecutors alleged that when Gaskill noticed Barriss was following him on Twitter, he gave Barriss that same old address and taunted him to “try something.”
The federal indictment detailed Viner’s panic in text communications after he realized someone had gotten killed and the ensuing investigation would likely unveil his Twitter conversations related to the prank. A person identified in the indictment only as J.D. texted him saying that hopefully Viner didn’t say anything stupid.
“I did, I literally said you’re gonna be swatted. Not thinking at all, so I’m going to prison,” Viner texted back.
When J.D. apparently tried to reassure him by pointing out that Viner himself didn’t call the hoax in, Viner replied, “Does t (sic) even matter?????? I was involved I asked him to do it in the first place,” according to the indictment.
The indictment also alleged that a forensic examination of Viner’s iPhone recovered his deleted outgoing messages to unknown persons, including one in which Viner allegedly wrote: “I was involved in someone’s death.”
Sentencing for Viner was scheduled for June 26.
Barriss was sentenced last week to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to 51 counts for making fake emergency calls and threats around the country, including the deadly hoax call in Kansas. Prosecutors believe it is the longest prison sentence ever imposed for “swatting.”
Gaskill’s trial has been delayed to April 23 amid plea talks with federal prosecutors.
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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A gamer accused of recruiting a prankster to make a bogus emergency call is expected in federal court to answer for his alleged part in the hoax that got an unarmed Kansas man killed by police.
A change-of-plea hearing is Wednesday for 19-year-old Casey Viner of North College Hill, Ohio. He initially pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice, wire fraud and other counts.
Viner allegedly became upset over a $1.50 bet while playing Call of Duty: WWII online with 20-year-old Shane Gaskill of Wichita. Prosecutors say Viner then asked Tyler Barriss of Los Angeles to “swat” Gaskill.
Swatting is sometimes used by gamers to send first responders to an opponent’s address.
Barriss was sentenced last week to 20 years. Gaskill’s trial is April 23.
SEWARD COUNTY–Law enforcement authorities are investigating after two Kansas men were found dead on Tuesday.
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Just after 8 a.m. Tuesday, a farmer reported to the Seward County Sheriff’s Office that he found the body of a man located in a ditch on his property near U.S. Highway 54 and the Kansas/Oklahoma state line in Texas County, Oklahoma, according to a media release from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation .
Since the body was discovered very near the state line, authorities and crime scene teams from both states responded to investigate. The deceased man has been identified as Timothy J. Martin, 25, of Liberal.
While investigators were developing leads in the case, at approximately 8:50 p.m. Tuesday night, a 911 call was received by the Seward County Sheriff’s Office reporting the body of a second deceased man located in a trailer at the Seven Winds RV Park, at 1702 Road F, west of Liberal. The man has been identified as 31-year-old Erick G. Salas, of Liberal.
Authorities believe the two homicides are likely connected as the two men were former roommates.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI), the Seward County Sheriff’s Office, the Liberal Police Department, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, the Texas County, Okla., Sheriff’s Office, and the Texas County, Okla., District Attorney’s Office are working together on this investigation.
Anyone with information about these homicides is asked to contact the KBI at 1-800-KS-CRIME, the OSBI at 1-800-522-8017 or [email protected], or the Seward County Sheriff’s Office at 620-309-2000.
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SEWARD COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a possible homicide near the southwest Kansas community of Liberal.
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The first of two bodies was found near U.S. Highway 54 and the Oklahoma/Kansas state line in Texas County, Oklahoma. The second was found in Seward County, Kansas, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. They have not released details on a possible connection between the two bodies.
The Seward County Sheriff’s office released no information Wednesday morning. Undersheriff Gene Ward referred all questions on the case to the KBI.
Major flooding on stretches of the Missouri River from Nebraska and Iowa through Kansas and Missouri resulted in several breached levees and significant damage to cities, towns, and farmland in March. Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say the threat of even more flooding isn’t over yet.
Rising waters breached levees along the Missouri River in late March. photo by ANDREA TUDHOPE
According to NOAA’s spring flood outlook, flood risks will remain significantly high for the duration of spring. And not just in the Missouri River basin.
Here’s what the report has to say about three of Kansas’ major waterways.
Missouri River Basin: Major Flood Risk
Flooding in the upper Missouri River basin, which includes parts of northeast Kansas, has already broken records this year.
Meteorologists at NOAA say a number of unusual circumstances added up to a major problem.
It started with a large amount of late spring snow in the Dakotas and Minnesota. Then rapid snowmelt and a bomb cyclone dropped even more water on already saturated or still frozen ground.
“It was like falling on a paved street,” said meteorologist Bob Holmes. “It had nowhere to infiltrate, there was no natural infiltration, and so every bit of that ran off.”
Additional spring rain and melting snow will prolong or expand the flooding that is already happening.
The outlook predicts that the Missouri River from Kansas City to the Kansas-Nebraska border has greater than a 50 percent chance of major flooding this spring. “Major” meaning flooding that causes extensive inundation of buildings and roads and prompts large scale evacuations.
This map depicts the locations where there is a greater than 50 percent chance of major, moderate or minor flooding through May 2019.
CREDIT NOAA
Kansas River Basin: Moderate Flood Risk
The areas that feed into the Kansas River basin do not have nearly as much extra snowpack as the feeders of the Missouri River basin. The greatest risk in the Kansas River basin instead lies with the chance of greater than normal rainfall falling on saturated ground.
That’s one of the reasons why NOAA’s spring flood outlook only puts the Kansas River basin at risk for moderate flooding — flooding with some inundation of buildings and roads, but less cause for evacuations.
The Kansas River basin also includes several reservoirs used for flood control, such as Milford Lake which receives water from the Republican River, and Tuttle Creek Lake which receives water from the Big Blue River.
Because the Kansas River ultimately flows into the Missouri, which is already at record highs, the reservoirs have been set to release only the minimum amount. So the lakes are at higher than normal levels.
“We have folks on the upper end of Tuttle Creek who have bottom ground, farm ground, coming into Tuttle Creek that is underwater right now,” Earl Lewis, Acting Director of the Kansas Water Office, said.
Unlike the other two rivers on this list, the Arkansas isn’t as likely to burst its banks this year. However, the NOAA forcast does predict a risk for minor flooding that would lead to minimal property damage, but could pose some public threat such as the flooding of roads and low lying areas.
The greatest risk to the Arkansas will come from spring thunderstorms that drop a large amount of water in a short amount of time. Couple that with ground that’s saturated and you have a recipe for flooded streets and small creeks overflowing.
The oft’ repeated advice from experts in situations like those: “Turn around, don’t drown.”
The Kansas Department of Transportation expects to begin work on a resurfacing project along K-9 in Phillips and Smith counties on Thursday, April 4. The construction area covers an 18.5-mile stretch beginning near Kirwin and ending at the U.S. 281 junction.
Project work includes a 3-inch mill and inlay followed by application of a 1.5-inch hot mix asphalt overlay. Traffic will be reduced to one lane through the work zone and controlled by flaggers and a pilot car during daylight hours. Minor delays not exceeding 15 minutes should be expected.
Venture Corporation is the primary contractor for the project with a total contract cost of $4.2 million. Work is expected to be completed by the end of May, weather permitting.
SEDGWICK COUNTY— Law enforcement authorities continue their investigation of a homicide and have identified the victim.
Just after 8:30 p.m. Monday, police responded to a drive-by shooting call in the 1200 Block of North Minnesota in Wichita, according to Captain Brent Allred. A citizen called 911 after hearing gunshots in the neighborhood. At the scene, police found Marquez Hutton, 23, Wichita outside a residence with a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Allred. “The shooting was not a random incident,” he said.
Police have received a description of possible suspect vehicles and have located one of them. They are looking for a second vehicle but have not released additional details, according to Allred.
Police believe one of the individuals involved is a gang member. They have not reported an arrest.
Anyone with information on the crime is asked to call police.
As far as first jobs go, opening gates on my grandparents’ ranch was the best I could ever imagine. I don’t remember how old I was when I started helping. I do know it led to my first experience with the majestic plural.
“We’ll get this gate,” my grandfather would say with a chuckle as we approached the pasture. “We” of course meant me. The worse the weather, the harder he’d laugh. Being the gate-getter led to many other “we” jobs. Post-hole digger, wire stretcher and thistle cutter were some. The list of less than glamorous tasks stretches to the horizon.
My favorite job was mowing hay because I could sit in the comfort of an air-conditioned cab, provided I didn’t break a section on the sickle bar. The same was true for running the baler, but fixing a twisted belt took more time and was far itchier than swapping out a broken section.
One assignment that really made my heart thump was hauling hay out of a bottomland meadow. The trip to involved getting the truck, trailer and its 12,000-pound load up a steep hill with a blind curve.
The first trip was the most daunting, but my grandfather did offer some advice: “You want to go fast enough you make it to the top, but not so fast you lose control of the load. Do that and we’ll be fine.”
He stayed in the field and watched as I gripped the wheel with white knuckles and motored down the road. I made it to the top with momentum to spare and the load intact.
That was the summer after my freshman year at Kansas State University, my last on the ranch. After that I was a city dweller. I got a degree in journalism, fell in love with the Flint Hills and bounced around various newspapers in the area for a little over a decade.
When my title changed from reporter to editor, I began using the royal “we” with reporters. I couldn’t utter it without thinking of my grandfather and the ranch.
I’m sure I’ve romanticized much of the work. Some was tedious, most was hard. Harder than sitting in an office looking at a computer screen. But I’d often thought about getting closer to my rural heritage. Then the opportunity at Kansas Farm Bureau came up, and now they’re stuck with me. Don’t worry, we’ll be OK.
And my grandfather wasn’t above using the majestic plural to help me avoid embarrassment. The best example is when he helped avert a catastrophe of my own making.
I was probably 5 or 6 when it happened. I had followed him out to the shed to see a baby calf. While he was busy with the calf, I rolled the gate that separated the tack room from the pen off its track. I could tell something was wrong, but I didn’t know how to right the gate. Just as I started to panic that I’d done serious damage, my grandfather came to my rescue.
“We’ll fix this,” he said as he hoisted the gate into place.
“Insight” is a weekly column published by Kansas Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm organization whose mission is to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service.
JACKSON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on drug and numerous additional charges after a long-distance pursuit.
Terry-photo Jackson Co.
Just before 2:30p.m. Tuesday, a deputy sheriff attempted to stop a 2007 Yamaha motorcycle that was allegedly driving erratically and speeding near 102nd and U.S. Highway 75 in southern Jackson County, according to sheriff Tim Morse.
The motorcyclist continued south into Shawnee County and led law enforcement on a pursuit into north Topeka. A KHP air unit pursued the motorcyclist by air.
The motorcycle was followed to the 1700 block of NW Taylor in Topeka where the rider allegedly hid the motorcycle and left on foot.
KHP Troopers, Shawnee County Deputies and the Topeka Police Department assisted with the apprehension of the rider identified as Austin L. Terry, 35, Topeka, according to Morse.
He was arrested by Jackson County deputies and transported to the Jackson County Jail in Holton where he is facing charges of Flee and eluding law enforcement, reckless driving, possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, driving while suspended, no proof of insurance and no registration.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Top Republican lawmakers in Kansas appear skittish about being able to block Medicaid expansion, offering political cover to moderate GOP colleagues if they back off their push for an expansion this year.
@GovLauraKelly is pushing for a socialist, Bernie Sanders-endorsed health care plan. Medicaid needs reform, not expansion. We cannot surrender to the mess of Obamacare in Kansas. #kslegpic.twitter.com/i0bJb3sOVm
State Senate President Susan Wagle told reporters Tuesday that GOP leaders plan to have a legislative committee study Medicaid expansion this summer and fall. She said the panel would review proposals that could generate broader support among Republicans, such as a work requirement or drug testing for people receiving the expanded coverage.
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly has made expanding Medicaid health coverage for as many as 150,000 additional Kansas residents one of her top priorities after her Republican predecessors thwarted it. Expansion has bipartisan support, but conservative Republicans who oppose it hold key positions in the GOP-controlled Legislature.
Expansion opponents prevented even a legislative committee vote on a plan until supporters forced a debate in the House two weeks ago and passed a modified versionof Kelly’s plan. The Senate has yet to take up the bill, and expansion supporters are trying to pressure that chamber’s GOP leaders into allowing a vote while working on ways to maneuver around them.
“If it passes, it will be a plan that’s affordable for Kansas and it will be catered to our needs,” said Wagle, a conservative Wichita Republican who’s been a strong expansion opponent. “We’re willing and open to discuss it, but we want to do the right thing.”
GOP leaders have argued that Medicaid expansion will be too expensive for Kansas, even with the 2010 federal Affordable Care Act’s promise that the federal government will cover most of the cost. Wagle also argued that state lawmakers should wait to see whether Congress overhauls health care again, but President Donald Trump on Tuesday deferred his push for a GOP alternative until after the 2020 election.
Thirty-six states have expanded Medicaid or have seen voters approve ballot initiatives. The federal government would cover 90 percent of the cost for Kansas.
State Rep. Susan Concannon, a moderate western Kansas Republican who supports Medicaid expansion, said GOP leaders are “feeling the heat” of popular support for it and further study is a “stall tactic” to get them through this year.
“I have a feeling their districts are starting to show their support for Medicaid expansion as well, and this is their effort to respond,” said Sen. Randall Hardy, another GOP moderate from central Kansas.
Kelly called on legislators to pass an expansion bill this week. Lawmakers are scheduled to begin an annual spring break Saturday and reconvene May 1 to wrap up business for the year.
“Enough is enough,” Kelly told reporters during a news conference. “No more stall tactics. No more bait and switch. No more excuses.”
Kelly’s administration estimates that the net cost of an expansion to Kansas would be $34 million during its first full year. Republican leaders believe the figure is far too low.
Wagle said legislators need months to review what other states have done, study what limits the Trump administration might allow and examine alternatives to Kelly’s plan.
“We want to put caveats in,” Wagle said. “We want time to look at those.”
But expansion supporters said an expansion plan will pass the Senate this year if backers can engineer a vote. Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat, dismissed Wagle’s arguments for further study.
EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say two people were hurt in a crash on a smoke-obscured highway in the Flint Hills of Kansas.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reports that the wreck happened Tuesday on the Kansas Turnpike about 5 miles southwest of Emporia. More than 100 controlled burns were conducted that day in Lyon County.
Because of the smoke, 70-year-old Gary Craig of Culver, Indiana, had slowed to around 10 mph. His sport utility vehicle then was hit by a pickup truck. The patrol says Craig and a passenger were taken to a hospital with injuries that weren’t believed to be serious. The truck’s driver wasn’t hurt.
Controlled burns are used to control invasive species and encourage plant growth.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Two teenagers from Topeka are charged with attempted first-degree murder and robbery in the shootings of two brothers at a Holcom Park Rec Center in Lawrence.
First responders on the scene of the shooting in Lawrence photo courtesy WIBW TV
Benson Edwards Jr., and Sahavione Caraway, both 17, made their first appearances Tuesday in Douglas County District Court. Both pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors could decide to try both as adults.
The charges allege that the defendants shot the two victims several times on Friday afternoon at Holcom Park during an attempted robbery.
Police haven’t released the names of the brothers, who are 18 and 16. On Tuesday, the older brother was in critical but stable condition and the younger was in stable condition.
Edwards also is charged with criminal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
KANSAS CITY (AP) — Animal control officers in Kansas City are investigating how the dismembered remains of a horse ended up in a city park.
photo courtesy KCMO
A man playing disc golf found the remains Monday evening in Kessler Park.
Police spokesman Capt. Tim Hernandez says the horse appeared to have been prepared for consumption. After the meat was removed, the carcass was placed in a barrel and dumped in the park.
The horse’s head, hooves, legs, entrails, ribs and lungs were scattered in the area.
Hernandez said in a news release that a veterinarian will determine the time and cause of the horse’s death.
Animal control will lead the investigation unless it is determined the horse was stolen.
HUTCHINSON — AT&T has chosen Hutchinson to be the first city in the nation to beta test a federally-backed smart city system.
photo courtesy city of Hutchinson
Hutchinson Police Chief Jeffrey Hooper presented a proposal to the Hutchinson City Council. The city must present AT&T with a letter of commitment to move forward.
Chief Hooper explained the concept and how it would work. Hooper said the technology would help law enforcement by allowing officers to access a phone that has called authorities. Officers could start recording the crime and authorities would be able to tap into the system and see the crime as it’s happening.
Hooper also talked about AT&T strengthening its towers in Hutchinson. That includes putting cameras on certain intersections for first responders to access. In an emergency situation, lights and sirens would trip the lights to red and allow emergency vehicles to pass through more safely.
“It would also have sensors on that intersection where we could see the traffic flow, traffic pattern where we could see congestion at that intersection, such as a stalled vehicle or an accident, something like that,” Chief Hooper said.
Hutchinson was chosen because Kansas is the nation’s leader for the 911 dispatch communications system. There are 98 communications centers connected to the statewide system.
Drones could also be connected to the system for major events — such as flooding or wildfires. There is some concern regarding the drones since they are not allowed in certain areas, including the Hutchinson Airport. There are also some privacy concerns with drones. Those issues will be addressed and worked out before the drones are used.
There would be no upfront cost to the city, however, there would be a service fee if the city chooses to stay on the system. Hooper also says there will be some staff time commitments across the city.
Any final decision will come before the city council at a later time.
