He Wanted Internet Fame... UNTIL
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Who is Tyler Barriss and why does he crave internet fame?
So, this wannabe professional gamer is in big trouble. He wants internet attention so badly that he ends up getting someone killed. Now, this all starts with this guy, Tyler. Tyler's 23, living in Los Angeles, California, and Tyler, he's kind of a turd. He's got no friends, no job, he still is with his grandma. But the thing he really wants is online clout. He wants to be a professional gamer and he wants a lot of attention on social media. And so he spends all his time playing Halo online, trying To get good. And one day in 2015, he gets into some kind of argument with another player online, and that player decides to SWAT Tyler in retaliation. So this guy calls the police and he reports a fake emergency.
And he says this emergency is happening at Tyler's house, and so boom, police show up, Tyler's house with a full SWAT team. And suddenly there's a helicopter hovering overhead. And all kinds of cops are surrounding his place, and Tyler's grandma is home, and she is terrified. But Tyler actually isn't. He thinks this whole scenario is kind of cool.
How does Tyler’s first swatting incident spark his obsession with power?
I mean, he's impressed with the power that the other player just flexed on him. All the guy had to do was make one phone call, and he was able to cause all this chaos. And so now, Tyler wants that kind of power. Power for himself. So he starts making phone calls to cause chaos. He calls dozens of seemingly random schools and colleges saying, I left a bomb on campus and it's about to explode. And of course, people there panic and they evacuate the entire building. And sometimes this stuff will make the news. And so Tyler will get the thrill of seeing these mass evacuations. On the TV screen. So, anyway, after that, he'll go on Twitter on his anonymous account, SWATistic, and he takes credit for all of this, bragging about what he just did, which in turn gets him a ton of new followers.
So this ends up being really fun for him. He loves the attention and he feels powerful, like he can just keep breaking the law over and over again. and never get caught. Then one day he gets another idea. What if the news studio itself had to be evacuated?
What escalating tricks does Tyler use to gain attention after the first swat?
So he calls in a bomb threat to a local news station in Glendale. And they evacuate the building, and Tyler is at home watching it live. But this time Tyler's grandma is watching too. And she figures out that he is the one who called in the threat. Like, you did this, didn't you? And so he gets all mad and he tells her that if she tells anyone, he'll hurt her and her dogs. So now, poor grandma is all afraid of him, and so she goes and kicks him out of her house and she files a restraining order against him. And of course, she also reports him, and so he goes to jail for about a year and a half. But then he gets out. And so now Tyler is literally. legitimately homeless and he has to move into a homeless shelter and he has to use a public library to stay online.
Then at some point during all this he gets a really fed up idea. What if he could make money from swatting? So he starts charging people in his gaming community to SWAT other people. Usually other gamers or live streamers. So Tyler will do this, then he'll get paid, then he'll go on Twitter and brag about how he just swatted someone.
Why does Tyler’s own grandmother turn against him and file a restraining order?
And he does this over and over and over again. And from all this, he starts to get a reputation online. known as a professional swatter. But then things start to get dark. So at this point, it's 2017, and two gamers are online playing Call of Duty together. This guy, Viner, and this other guy, Gaskell. Now, these two have never met in real life, but they're playing as teammates, and they just bet other players from the opposing team $1.50 that they'll win this match. So they're playing, and at some point during the match, Gaskell messes up and he accidentally shoots and kills Viner's character. And this friendly fire causes them to lose the game. And this pisses Viner off. I mean, he just lost $1.50 because of Gaskell's incompetence, and he's not gonna let that slide.
So these two start fighting over messages and DMs on Twitter.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Who is Tyler Barriss and why does he crave internet fame?
0:00–1:11
2
How does Tyler’s first swatting incident spark his obsession with power?
1:11–2:24
3
What escalating tricks does Tyler use to gain attention after the first swat?
2:24–3:43
4
Why does Tyler’s own grandmother turn against him and file a restraining order?
3:43–5:01
5
How does Tyler turn swatting into a paid service for other gamers?
5:01–5:55
6
What triggers the fatal 2017 swatting that leads to a murder?
5:55–6:53
7
How does a mistaken address cause an innocent family’s tragedy?
6:53–7:55
8
What were the legal outcomes for Tyler, Viner, and Gaskell after the murder?
7:55–8:52
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast
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