The officer who fired the gunshots in a deadly swatting prank will not be charged as a Wichita, Kansas prosecutor ruled that the officer "acted reasonably," the Wichita Eagle reported on Thursday.
Andrew Finch was killed on Dec. 28 after a prankster called the Wichita Police claiming that Finch was holding the caller hostage, and that multiple others had been shot. When police entered the home, they did not know at the time that the call was a prank.
District Attorney Marc Bennett said Thursday that officers believed that Finch was reaching for a gun at the time of the shooting. Officers claimed that Finch was reaching for his waistband, and did not follow instructions to keep his hands up.
"This shooting should not have happened," Bennett told the Wichita Eagle. "The officer's decision was made in the context of the false call."
Finch was shot roughly 10 seconds after he opened the door.
An autopsy confirmed that Finch was wounded by multiple bullet fragments, the Eagle reported.
"The family's devastated and the family is disappointed by the decision of the district attorney today," Finch's family attorney told the Eagle. Andrew M. Stroth is representing the family in a federal civil rights lawsuit against the department.
