The mother of a Wichita man who was killed by police in a 2017 swatting incident is urging the city council to take action to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Lisa Finch went to the council meeting Tuesday to talk about the death of her son, 28-year-old Andrew Finch, resulting from a false 911 call to the Finch home in December, 2017. Finch said her son’s shooting was unjustified and “one hundred percent avoidable.” She said her son’s death has impacted every family member, and she told the council “I scream internally every second of every single day, and it’s not ever going to stop.”
Finch said Andy was the family leader and he could always be counted on to take care of anything the family needed. She said Andy was loyal, understanding, loving, caring and a family-oriented person.
Finch told the city council they should implement policy changes with more training for police officers, and a better system of communication between dispatchers and officers in the field. She said the council has a responsibility to make sure this never happens again to any family.
The Finch family has filed a lawsuit against the city, and it was recently revealed that the family is seeking $25 million in damages. A trial is scheduled for September, 2020.
An investigation by the Wichita Police Department and the Sedgwick County district attorney’s office found no wrongdoing by the officer involved in the shooting. The officer, Justin Rapp, has filed a lawsuit against the city for more than $30,000 for breach of contract.
