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British man charged after US gamer is shot by Swat police following hoax call

shandy706

Member
I sleep in boxers or nude. I'd probably want to grab something to wear too after I came to the door to see what was going on. I'd rather not go outside on a cold day with my pork and beans out...or at least the pork trying to get out the front flap.

Couldn't even get some clothes on without being shot.

The "swatters" can rot in hell.
 

joecanada

Member
I'm sorry, I don't believe that police report but I know nothing about US. If it were my country police, that report would be bullshit to anyone, it even sounds hilarious.

and yet in some court cases, it appears police testimony is still taken with more weight than joe public, claiming the defendant has more to lose and therefore is more likely to lie to save their defense.....
but now we know through numerous video taped cases that actually it's probably equal or even balance the other way , the police can and will lie to save their own asses.

For example we had this disgrace in Vancouver

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Ju...o+Robert+Dziekanski+death/10830019/story.html

All I can say is having cameras everywhere is an absolute blessing in this regard.
 

autoduelist

Member
He won't get anywhere near 20 years obviously, but hopefully it'll be closer to that than to 20 weeks.

And yeah, I can't fathom a reason why the officers would have needed to shoot him.

We don't really know completely how it went down. Now, yes, certainly the guy shouldn't have gotten shot. Clearly.

But that doesn't mean we know all the details. What if the guy had a record for assault or illegal carry? What if the guy's door was locked, and so they busted it down and the guy 'jumped up' out of bed, arms still hidden by his sheets and the cops reacted quickly, knowing they were using rubber bullets.

We have no idea what happened. It's certainly possible the cops had absolutely zero reason to shoot. But some of the people here are going to great lengths to imagine the 'best possible case' that supports their own bias. The fact is, we have -no idea- what the cops saw when they went in that room. Now, given the dad and sister were telling them nothing was wrong, they should have been extremely careful. But that doesn't change the fact that going into a closed door room when you suspect someone is armed is a high tension event and sometimes shit will go wrong.
 

Ponn

Banned
It is absolutely only one side, of the argument, but I couldn't find any other side. I clicked on all 4 of those links. Nobody said what happened in the house that I could see.

It seems likely that the police showed up, asked him to disarm or get on the ground and he refused. I cant see any other reason they would shoot him. Some people in here actually thought they shot him while he was sleeping.

One side is better than complete idle speculation.

Do you even stop to think for one minute taking it back to square one how "swatting" is even a thing that's possible to begin with, specifically in America? Do you even realize how powerless you are in such a situation and how people (especially minorities) are killed for less and how time after time the police go unchecked and are not held accountable? What is even your end goal argument here, "he was no angel being scared shitless from swat with guns surrounding his place for no reason". What was his fucking crime??

Seriously people what the fucking fuck.
 
Do you even stop to think for one minute taking it back to square one how "swatting" is even a thing that's possible to begin with, specifically in America? Do you even realize how powerless you are in such a situation and how people (especially minorities) are killed for less and how time after time the police go unchecked and are not held accountable? What is even your end goal argument here, "he was no angel being scared shitless from swat with guns surrounding his place for no reason". What was his fucking crime??

Seriously people what the fucking fuck.
Being black and that pissed someone off 3000 miles away.
 
Fuck! SWAT shooting first and asking questions later huh. You'd think they'd spend 5min doing reconnaisssance before going all in.


Are kids so disconnected that they don't realize this is a step too far? Wtf?
 

Tommi84

Member
Well that what happens when you live in a "Shoot First, ask questions later" training policy.
In a hostage situation, there's not always time to think. You need to base your actions on instinct - hostages' and your's live depend on it.

I hope they make the example of the stupid guy who called the Police.
 
Most will post to the op and topic but.

Many will read more after that depending on the subject. Opinionated topics will get less read for sure am just op reads.

I do often try to catch up on things before posting but not always. Some info just gets too spread at sometimes to make it clear. Not to mention reports can be wrong anyways. So in those cases I just state my feelings in some scenarios anyways. We are all sort of already doing that. Cause we don't really know what happened in most cases

Atleast... In a first hand look. So many posts may go differently if we were there for most things we only read ones account or opinions on
 

Philly40

Member
We don't really know completely how it went down. Now, yes, certainly the guy shouldn't have gotten shot. Clearly.

But that doesn't mean we know all the details. What if the guy had a record for assault or illegal carry? .

Certainly us people posting in this thread don't know all the details about your imagined record for assault or illegal carry.

Do you know who should have actually known these details? Probably the people who actually shot him in the face.
 
I always wonder if some of these could be prevented by simply ringing the doorbell.
There are many cases where people do have hostages, break ins etc

Breaking into homes probably happens in the millions as most cities and small towns have

You can't go into these things thinking it's real or fake. There is a fine line that police cross on the aggressive side.

The issue is, police can treat you like your guilty and lying. They get use to bring heartless basically

Some have care, understanding etc but swat mentality seems quite broken
 
In a hostage situation, there's not always time to think. You need to base your actions on instinct - hostages' and your's live depend on it.
Instincts were shit. They should prolly be something other than cops. Everyone deserves a swift kick except the poor sod who got shot in the fucking face.
 

mr jones

Ethnicity is not a race!
Yeah, this is premeditated attempted murder.

The problem then is that is a tacit admission that the police in America are a deadly force that can be used to kill innocents.

It's true, but prosecutors will shy away from the warranted charges for their career's sake.

This post doesn't get enough attention.

When you're saying that swatting is attempted murder, then you're saying that SWAT teams are deadly forces that can kill innocent people.

Swatting should be an inconvenience. It shouldn't be more than a waste of officer's time, taxpayer dollars, and the person swatted having to explain how the officers have been duped.

You shouldn't have to worry that the police did NO recon, went in hot, and shot up people who weren't armed. At the minimum injuring them and damaging property, at worst killing the victim and or others in the home.

THAT is a problem. But you know, anti-police sentiment and all that.
 
Fuck! SWAT shooting first and asking questions later huh. You'd think they'd spend 5min doing reconnaisssance before going all in.


Are kids so disconnected that they don't realize this is a step too far? Wtf?

That's the entire point of swatting.

They know the police are a shitty, aggressive, oppressive organization free of personal consequences, and they know a swarm of spineless, soulless individuals are going to circle the wagons and defend them no matter how wrong they are. This is why swatting will keep happening, because nothing will change, and people would rather victim-blame or create hypothetical scenarios to cover their own inability to defend what actually happened.
 

brad-t

Member
What if the guy had a record for assault or illegal carry? What if the guy's door was locked, and so they busted it down and the guy 'jumped up' out of bed, arms still hidden by his sheets and the cops reacted quickly, knowing they were using rubber bullets.

What if, indeed? How do you think any of these imaginary scenarios justify what actually happened to this innocent man?

This wasn't, at any point, a life or death hostage situation, something easily verified through actual investigation (or, you know, just listening at all to the other people inside the home). No one's life was on the line except the victim of both the swatter and police.
 

Spman2099

Member
At least they were rubber bullets. Thank Christ for that.

Police took that seriously, acted on assumption the guy was armed and had explosives. I understand why they acted how they did. Don't condone it though, but if they hadn't and this was a real situation, they could've been killed.

But it wasn't a real situation and they fucking shot someone. That isn't acceptable. Especially when they are so easily persuaded to kick down random doors.

Accountability is important.

How long does this shit have to go on before these organizations start doing some due diligence? This isn't a new occurrence, this isn't something that just started happening last month, they should absolutely know better by now.

Shoot the swaters into space, but also ask the question of how children are able to so easily manipulate law enforcement to threaten, and in some instances, assault people. How are children managing to weaponize the people who are meant to protect us? It is absolutely unacceptable.
 
He doesn't need twenty years, he didn't comit homicide even. He needs to learn a hard lesson yes but twenty years in prison is as ridiculous as what he did. He's twenty years old, he deserves a chance to accept punishment and make a change. Anything over two years is way too extreme.

Repeat offenders? OK they deserve much more.
301935.jpg


I'm not a law-knowing guy. But it looks like conspiracy and premeditated ordering of a hit/assault/battery and making a false report to police. Does doing these using a carriage service and/or across countries make it worse legally?

Two years is way too low.
 

mr jones

Ethnicity is not a race!
Ah hell. So brother thought that they were there because he had weed in the house. That didn't help anything.

Mr. Dobbs was initially seen by officers crawling on the floor in front of a sliding glass door. He then came to the open slider twice and both times police repeatedly directed him to come out and show his hands. Mr. Dobbs did not comply and walked back into the apartment. The third time he walked to the glass slider, Mr. Dobbs was given the same direction by officers, but kept his hand inside the lower front of his shirt. Before he could again walk back toward the bedroom, where a woman who may be a hostage was still inside, he was struck with two non-lethal rubber rounds to prevent him from retreating back inside the apartment. Mr. Dobbs was struck in the torso and started to fall forward. A second round also intended for his torso struck Mr. Dobbs in the face as he was falling to the ground. A doctor who is part of the county's tactical response team was on-scene and rendered immediate aid before Mr. Dobbs was transported to the hospital. In a consent search of the residence, officers located a small quantity of drugs. This is relevant because after interviewing all of the parties involved, it was clear that the people inside the apartment believed the drugs were the reason the police were at the residence. They were not aware of the alleged hostage situation. It was determined that this was a swatting incident.
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
We don't really know completely how it went down. Now, yes, certainly the guy shouldn't have gotten shot. Clearly.

But that doesn't mean we know all the details. What if the guy had a record for assault or illegal carry? What if the guy's door was locked, and so they busted it down and the guy 'jumped up' out of bed, arms still hidden by his sheets and the cops reacted quickly, knowing they were using rubber bullets.

Yes, this guy was obviously a thug that they researched on and knew he had a criminal record. Oh wait no they didn't that's why they didn't know the phone call was suspicious to begin with.
 

joecanada

Member
In a hostage situation, there's not always time to think. You need to base your actions on instinct - hostages' and your's live depend on it.

I hope they make the example of the stupid guy who called the Police.


what happens when your instincts are completely wrong? oops we shot a dude. but at least we used our instincts!
 

zashga

Member
The fact that the police are so easily weaponized against innocent people is a big problem. This particular victim is lucky to be alive; that "non-lethal" bullet was about an inch away from killing him instantly.

The swatters deserve to go to jail for a long time. This is attempted murder in my book.
 
I understand why they acted how they did. Don't condone it though, but if they hadn't and this was a real situation, they could've been killed.

I understand too: shitty cops who didn't do their fucking homework.

Also, I'm not a SWAT expert but I'd think a situation like this, if they really thought it was real, would normally handled by posting up outside, announcing your presence, having a hostage negotiator talk to him to convince him to release them and turn himself in, etc. If he was sitting there with explosives when they bust down the door he could have detonated and killed them and the hostages.

So on top of being stupid they were reckless.
 
I can't even imagine the terror of this poor man and his family in this situation. I'd at least feel some comfort in knowing that he's in for a big payday, but then I see Maryland and :-\

The law (and law enforcement, while we're at it) really needs to catch up with technology. 20 years is not enough, and you know this cunt isn't getting the maximum.

Ah hell. So brother thought that they were there because he had weed in the house. That didn't help anything.
in before the victim blaming
 
The fact that the police are so easily weaponized against innocent people is a big problem. This particular victim is lucky to be alive; that "non-lethal" bullet was about an inch away from killing him instantly.

The swatters deserve to go to jail for a long time. This is attempted murder in my book.

I have to agree. It shouldn't take that much time to verify a threat. On top of that if it was real they are storming in without any knowledge of where the potential hostages are or under what circumstances they are being held. Seems like they are putting their lives in danger as well.
 

erawsd

Member
There are many cases where people do have hostages, break ins etc

Breaking into homes probably happens in the millions as most cities and small towns have

You can't go into these things thinking it's real or fake. There is a fine line that police cross on the aggressive side.

The issue is, police can treat you like your guilty and lying. They get use to bring heartless basically

Some have care, understanding etc but swat mentality seems quite broken

Thing is, there are plenty of reasons they should have questioned this particular situation. If you get a call from someone demanding money or they'll shoot/blow up hostages and then you arrive on the scene where the supposed gunman and his hostages have no idea what you are talking then maybe you should take a step back and reassess things? Especially when you've already had multiple prank calls in the same year.
 

HeatBoost

Member
what happens when your instincts are completely wrong? oops we shot a dude. but at least we used our instincts!

Is there a more clear crystallization of the issue of "security" VS needing luck to not get fucked over... than trigger happy SWAT teams?

I'd be curious to see how often SWAT teams are deployed for legit reasons and manage to save people's lives VS how often they got duped into being assault squads for internet shitheads at this point. Maybe it's just because of the corners of the internet I inhabit, but I see what feels like five instances of SWAT teams being sent in "hot" on innocent people where they end up ruining some innocent person's life for every one case where they might actually be needed.
 

RiccochetJ

Gold Member
I understand too: shitty cops who didn't do their fucking homework.

Also, I'm not a SWAT expert but I'd think a situation like this, if they really thought it was real, would normally handled by posting up outside, announcing your presence, having a hostage negotiator talk to him to convince him to release them and turn himself in, etc. If he was sitting there with explosives when they bust down the door he could have detonated and killed them and the hostages.

So on top of being stupid they were reckless.

So what if the cops do as you say and the perpetrator uses that time to execute someone?
 

Aytumious

Banned
This thread is bonkers. People should investigate more before posting.

Police called into the house twice. Had actually evacuated the rest of the family, and we're talking with Dobbs when he chose to disregard them and turn away to "get his girlfriend."

Terrible situation all around, but this kid put himself and the police in a bad situation.

Police would never lie in a police report after fucking up and shooting an innocent person in the face.
 
301935.jpg


I'm not a law-knowing guy. But it looks like conspiracy and premeditated ordering of a hit/assault/battery and making a false report to police. Does doing these using a carriage service and/or across countries make it worse legally?

Two years is way too low.
Two years is a lot imo

A day in prison sounds like hell to me....

Two years in prison would fuck me for life no doubt. I may kill myself.

I don't think prison is always the answer myself.

People make mistakes, yeah swatting is bad and I wouldn't ever do it but if I did for whatever dumb reason, why kill me or mentally fuck me over forever.

We need to have more understanding and help for others.. Fucking them up may not be the best solution?

Case by case and see how the person acts. Thid is what court is for

I'm saying the book throwing posts are reactionary and unreasonable overall. It's swat mentality. It's American culture at heart.
 
Lock em up fellas, this is a serious crime that's had serious repercussions. I'm in agreement that there should be some kind of reconnaissance happen beforehand; I hope the guy doesn't have any lasting injuries.
 

Brigandier

Member
This is absolutely ridiculous..... a 21 year old???

Hopefully no leniency is shown here because of "I made a mistake I really regret it" plea.

He's 21 classed as an adult, Hopefully his punishment reflects this.
 
Two years is a lot imo

A day in prison sounds like hell to me....

Two years in prison would fuck me for life no doubt. I may kill myself.

I don't think prison is always the answer myself.

People make mistakes, yeah swatting is bad and I wouldn't ever do it but if I did for whatever dumb reason, why kill me or mentally fuck me over forever.

We need to have more understanding and help for others.. Fucking them up may not be the best solution?

Case by case and see how the person acts. Thid is what court is for

I'm saying the book throwing posts are reactionary and unreasonable overall. It's swat mentality. It's American culture at heart.

Madmaxthatsbait.gif

But I'll take it. You can't tell me the swatters had no idea that the victim might die. That right there is all you need to know about swatters. They might have well been holding the guns themselves. This ain't petty theft, or even simple assault.
 

Kenstar

Member
Thank goodness the people who are sick enough to do this are also dumb enough to get caught

Can't IMAGINE how mad I'd be if they did it anonymously and never knowing who sent the police to shoot me in the face
 
Thing is, there are plenty of reasons they should have questioned this particular situation. If you get a call from someone demanding money or they'll shoot/blow up hostages and then you arrive on the scene where the supposed gunman and his hostages have no idea what you are talking then maybe you should take a step back and reassess things? Especially when you've already had multiple prank calls in the same year.
Yes but I have accounted for all that just saying you can't just walk up and ring a door bell. That's how you get killed in the other situation of people that don't want life in prison. There is a line after all.

We have overreacting cops, yes.

We have cop shooting people too. You can't assume every person is bad or good. They definitely need to stop shooting first but doing dumb things with potential threats is still dumb.
 
The more these "swatter" kids get arrested/charged for their actions, the faster this bullshit "trend" will stop.

Good point, I wonder what the ratio of finding the hoax callers is?

I mean it's not like they use their own phone like this criminal probably did. Surely this crime is only instigated once they are sure that the phone is stolen then destroyed, made from a remote location etc.
 
Madmaxthatsbait.gif

But I'll take it. You can't tell me the swatters had no idea that the victim might die. That right there is all you need to know about swatters. They might have well been holding the guns themselves. This ain't petty theft, or even simple assault.
Many people die in pranks, right m yes. People wont assume what you assume. Is that really that hard to imagine? It isn't bait, this is basic life.

People also sky dive believing they can't die. Not everyone believes someone will die from swatting, that's one of the issues, yes.

But it needs understanding, maybe a general life class is needed in school.

There are some people that may deserve prison for swatting and some that may not. We can't lump people as the same in my mind.

Obviously swatting is dumb, but many things people do are. Any harm to others is dumb to me.

A lot of UK people seem to hate Americans in my life experience but I still can't assume that's the case. It may be, but I don't know..

It's a news report and I don't know the people or situation. The court and judge can.
 

Zomba13

Member
Madmaxthatsbait.gif

But I'll take it. You can't tell me the swatters had no idea that the victim might die. That right there is all you need to know about swatters. They might have well been holding the guns themselves. This ain't petty theft, or even simple assault.

Exactly. When you swat someone it isn't just "for teh lulz" it's also attempted murder. If you want to prank someone, order a billion pizzas to their house or something if you want to be a creepy stalker dickhead who looks up peoples addresses and then harasses them. If you call the cops and claim some sort of hostage or terrorist plot you obviously expect the cops to arrive ready to use lethal force. You WANT the cops to barge in and kill someone/something because if not then why do it in the first place? Especially in a country where the police force are so militarised and have a gung-ho attitude towards using their weapons, especially against people of colour.

This isn't a "oh you" *meme pic* situation, especially when the one calling it in was twenty-fucking-one years old.
 
Many people die in pranks, right m yes. People wont assume what you assume. Is that really that hard to imagine? It isn't bait, this is basic life.

People also sky dive believing they can't die. Not everyone believes someone will die from swatting, that's one of the issues, yes.

But it needs understanding, maybe a general life class is needed in school.

There are some people that may deserve prison for swatting and some that may not. We can't lump people as the same in my mind.

Obviously swatting is dumb, but many things people do are. Any harm to others is dumb to me.

A lot of UK people seem to hate Americans in my life experience but I still can't assume that's the case. It may be, but I don't know..

It's a news report and I don't know the people or situation. The court and judge can.
Causing bodily harm, possibly death, and severe intimidation to a non-consenting innocent person is the intent and foreseeable result of swatting. It isn't skydiving, a decision one makes for oneself, and an accident happening. How about if some people conspire to and go through with intentionally inrerfering with the parachute to be more difficult to properly use, as a prank to scare someone and possibly kill them? Nah, two years would be too mean for that. /s

Though I disagree with any attempts to call swatting a 'prank'.
 
Causing bodily harm, possibly death, and severe intimidation to a non-consenting innocent person is the intent and foreseeable result of swatting. It isn't skydiving, a decision one makes for oneself, and an accident happening. How about if some people conspire to and go through with intentionally inrerfering with the parachute to be more difficult to properly use, as a prank to scare someone and possibly kill them? Nah, two years would be too mean for that. /s

Though I disagree with any attempts to call swatting a 'prank'.
Not everyone knows everything. Believe it or not.


Seems that is one you didn't know. A lot of things I don't know in the world of people as well. We know guns can kill u assume most know but there will be a few that actually don't know that too believe it or not

He definitely needs a punishment but we should help propel not most fuck them. That's too closed minded and doesn't really help after all is said and done. It isn't like the next swatter will hear this dude for 60 years in prison for it.

If this guy gets twenty years should all swatters get it?
 

SeanTSC

Member
In every single thread I've seen about SWATing I've always said it's fucking Attempted Murder. That is what this person should be charged with and 2 years is nothing.

Every single last case of it is Attempted Murder and the laws need to be changed so that people are charged with it. Every single time.
 
In every single thread I've seen about SWATing I've always said it's fucking Attempted Murder. That is what this person should be charged with and 2 years is nothing.

Every single last case of it is Attempted Murder and the laws need to be changed so that people are charged with it. Every single time.
Would you guys find two years in prison as nothing. Starting tomorrow? I can't imagine it as nothing at all.
 
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