The swatting hoax that Barriss was allegedly behind occurred last month and is believed to have been instigated by an argument over a Call of Duty game. One player, who is believed to have been Barriss, threatened to swat another. That person then provided an address that wasn't his own. Barriss has been accused of making a call to police saying that someone had been shot at that address and a hostage situation was ongoing. When police arrived, Andrew Finch, who was not involved with the Call of Duty game, was shot by an officer. Barriss was arrested a couple of days later in Los Angeles.

Barriss is being held on a $500,000 bond and is also facing charges in Canada over another, separate swatting incident.