• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

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

S

Slayven

Member
Megatron said:
We have basically no information at all as to what happened in the guy's home. Yet that doesn't stop people from jumping to conclusions and assuming the police were in the wrong. Some people In here actually believe they shot a guy while he was sleeping. Come on, don't be so stupid. For the rest of you, what do you think happened, the police walked into his house said 'Are you Tyran?' he Said yes and then "BLAM" right in the face? It seems MORE likely that they told him to get on the ground and he refused. Again, there's no details, so we don't know what happened, but we can't simply assume they were completely in the wrong. It sucks that this happens, but sometimes these calls are real. If it was a real call and the bomb went off because they they were researching the situation, people would have been screaming at them for not acting fast enough. It's a thankless job, where they face the possibility of death every day, and they are damned if they do and damned if they don't.
Click to expand...
Why is the standard for responsibility so low for someone that literally holds the power of life and death?

"Shit is hard, so what if they violate civil liberties and kill a few people?"
 
O

old manatee

Banned
Tain said:
yeah but in the midst of being woken up as armed officers barged into his home he had the audacity to turn around. can you believe it?

he obviously deserves to get his face fucked up to the point of needing reconstructive surgery.

there is literally nothing else that could have happened.
Click to expand...


If police don't get fired for shooting an innocent human in the face in their own home I would love to know what it takes. I know plenty of people who have been fired from their jobs, and none of them have ever fucked up that bad. It's almost the worst possible thing you could do as a police officer.
 
R

Ruff

Member
Good thing about these dumbfk swatters is that they're too dumbfk to avoid getting caught too. hope he gets the maximum.
 
Megatron

Megatron

Member
Slayven said:
Why is the standard for responsibility so low for someone that literally holds the power of life and death?

"Shit is hard, so what if they violate civil liberties and kill a few people?"
Click to expand...

What are you talking about? Nobody is saying that.
 
S

StoneFox

Member
The more these "swatter" kids get arrested/charged for their actions, the faster this bullshit "trend" will stop. Unfortunate that an innocent victim was injured in this case, but hopefully he makes a full recovery and suffers no lasting medical bills. The caller however, I hope he can be made as an example.
 
A

aadiboy

Member
Well, the good thing is that he'll serve his prison sentence in the US, where he'll certainly be given a warm welcome.
 
Fox Mulder

Fox Mulder

Member
They need to be charged with serious crimes, like attempted murder, and wasting resources. They're intentionally setting up a dangerous situation and risking lives for lolz.
 
F

Frozenprince

Banned
The Exploder said:
If police don't get fired for shooting an innocent human in the face in their own home I would love to know what it takes. I know plenty of people who have been fired from their jobs, and none of them have ever fucked up that bad. It's almost the worst possible thing you could do as a police officer.
Click to expand...
Literally a slight nudge of a millimeter or two on his gun to the left or right and that rubber bullet goes in through his eye socket and kills him.
 
Megatron

Megatron

Member
Vanguard771 said:
Police report can read here:

https://www.scribd.com/mobile/document/271698829/Howard-County-Police-Statement-on-Swatting-t
Click to expand...

Since I am sure most of the people in here burying the police wont click this, I will post the details.


"Police responded to the scene and determined Tyran Dobbs was, in fact, inside the residence with three females. They contacted the lease holder for the apartment, who advised he is Mr. Dobbs
’
father. According to police reports from a lieutenant and sergeant on-scene, Mr. Dobbs
’
father advised that there was a gun in the apartment and that he could not be sure whether or not these were credible threats from his son. Negotiators made contact with a woman inside the apartment, who was able to exit with her child. They were immediately transported away from the scene for their safety and to be interviewed. A third female, believed to be Mr. Dobbs
’
girlfriend, remained inside. 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."

TLDR: The police got a call that Dobbs had hostages and would start killing them in 15 minutes. Contacted Dobbs' father, confirmed he had a gun, approached Dobbs in his house asked him 3 times to come out and show his hands, Dobbs refused and was shot with rubber bullets.
 
F

FX-GMC

Member
Megatron said:
Since I am sure most of the people in here burying the police wont click this, I will post the details.


"Police responded to the scene and determined Tyran Dobbs was, in fact, inside the residence with three females. They contacted the lease holder for the apartment, who advised he is Mr. Dobbs
'
father. According to police reports from a lieutenant and sergeant on-scene, Mr. Dobbs
'
father advised that there was a gun in the apartment and that he could not be sure whether or not these were credible threats from his son. Negotiators made contact with a woman inside the apartment, who was able to exit with her child. They were immediately transported away from the scene for their safety and to be interviewed. A third female, believed to be Mr. Dobbs
'
girlfriend, remained inside. 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."

TLDR: The police got a call that Dobbs had hostages and would start killing them in 15 minutes. Contacted Dobbs' father, confirmed he had a gun, approached Dobbs in his house asked him 3 times to come out and show his hands, Dobbs refused and was shot with rubber bullets.
Click to expand...

You think that is a good defense of the police? They should not have been at that house for any reason that day.

Don't blame the victim for being woken up to a SWAT team for doing NOTHING wrong.
 
F

Frozenprince

Banned
Burying the police for asking for trigger discipline.

It's legitimately a miracle he isn't dead. A rubber bullet travels at just over 120m/s. One round an inch to either side goes into his eye socket and kills him.
 
L

Lord of Castamere

Member
It's fucked that swatting is even a thing. Like yeah, the people doing it are fucked in the head, but it's only possible because of how assault happy the US police force is.

Someone threatened to kill hostages, and you're going to charge in gunhoy? It's stupid.
 
B

brad-t

Member
Megatron said:
Since I am sure most of the people in here burying the police wont click this, I will post the details.

[...]

TLDR: The police got a call that Dobbs had hostages and would start killing them in 15 minutes. Contacted Dobbs' father, confirmed he had a gun, approached Dobbs in his house asked him 3 times to come out and show his hands, Dobbs refused and was shot with rubber bullets.
Click to expand...

As if there wasn't a ridiculous precedent of falsified police reports in similar situations, there are so many holes in this report. Why would Dobbs acknowledge the police yet ignore them, knowing full-well that he would probably be shot for doing so? Let alone keeping his "hand inside the lower front of his shirt" (a classic excuse). They also made contact with a woman inside the home before they made contact with Dobbs — should it not have been clear that there was something amiss with the caller's story immediately after speaking to her?

It is impossible to get around the fact that someone on the other side of the planet was able to coerce police officers into shooting an innocent man in the face with a plainly false story, and absurd to absolve those who pulled the trigger.
 
P

Philly40

Member
Megatron said:
Since I am sure most of the people in here burying the police wont click this, I will post the details.


"Police responded to the scene and determined Tyran Dobbs was, in fact, inside the residence with three females. They contacted the lease holder for the apartment, who advised he is Mr. Dobbs
’
father. According to police reports from a lieutenant and sergeant on-scene, Mr. Dobbs
’
father advised that there was a gun in the apartment and that he could not be sure whether or not these were credible threats from his son. Negotiators made contact with a woman inside the apartment, who was able to exit with her child. They were immediately transported away from the scene for their safety and to be interviewed. A third female, believed to be Mr. Dobbs
’
girlfriend, remained inside. 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."

TLDR: The police got a call that Dobbs had hostages and would start killing them in 15 minutes. Contacted Dobbs' father, confirmed he had a gun, approached Dobbs in his house asked him 3 times to come out and show his hands, Dobbs refused and was shot with rubber bullets.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting an independent and impartial account of what really happened, I'll sleep better tonight.
 
Megatron

Megatron

Member
FX-GMC said:
You think that is a good defense of the police? They should not have been at that house for any reason that day.

Don't blame the victim for being woken up to a SWAT team for doing NOTHING wrong.
Click to expand...

Somebody calls and says there is a hostage situation and people will die in fifteen minutes and you dont think the police shouldnt go out there? They even contacted his father who confirmed he had a gun, wo it was plausible. Sorry, but you are wrong. They had to go check it out.
 
F

Fachasaurus

Member
brad-t said:
As if there wasn't a ridiculous precedent of falsified police reports in similar situations, there are so many holes in this report. Why would Dobbs acknowledge the police yet ignore them, knowing full-well that he would probably be shot for doing so? Let alone keeping his "hand inside the lower front of his shirt" (a classic excuse). They also made contact with a woman inside the home before they made contact with Dobbs — should it not have been clear that there was something amiss with the caller's story immediately after speaking to her?

It is impossible to get around the fact that someone on the other side of the planet was able to coerce police officers into shooting an innocent man in the face with a plainly false story, and absurd to absolve those who pulled the trigger.
Click to expand...

Exactly. There has to be more to this story. Hopefully more will be revealed after further investigation.
 
F

Frozenprince

Banned
This is me not buying a black man from Maryland of all places not doing whatever a bunch of angry and armed to the teeth police officers at his door say to do.

Hell this is me not buying his father would EVER say that shit.
 
Megatron

Megatron

Member
Philly40 said:
Thanks for posting an independent and impartial account of what really happened, I'll sleep better tonight.
Click to expand...


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.
 
F

FX-GMC

Member
Megatron said:
Somebody calls and says there is a hostage situation and people will die in fifteen minutes and you dont think the police shouldnt go out there? They even contacted his father who confirmed he had a gun, wo it was plausible. Sorry, but you are wrong. They had to go check it out.
Click to expand...

You aren't some authoritative figure on the matter. Get over yourself.

Megatron said:
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.
Click to expand...

My goodness, what ignorance.

Nirolak said:
Alternatively, once they entered the house and found his family awake saying "He's not a threat!", and then found him sleeping in his bed, they could have chosen not to start shoot him as he slept.
Click to expand...

Sounds simple enough to me.
 
F

Frozenprince

Banned
Megatron said:
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.
Click to expand...

In an age where people of color are shot and beaten almost daily despite many being unarmed, on the ground or with their hands up?
 
N

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
Iorv3th said:
The guy wasn't reporting his neighbor though, he was claiming to be the person that got swatted and said he had hostages and was going to kill them if he didn't get paid.

That's different than calling them and saying your neighbor has weapons.

There should certainly be a way for them to handle these situations to find out if the threat is real or not before acting though. They could have looked up the phone records for the actual guy and called him at his number and see what he said.
Click to expand...

Alternatively, once they entered the house and found his family awake saying "He's not a threat!", and then found him sleeping in his bed, they could have chosen not to start shooting him as he slept.
 
J

Jack The Nipper

Banned
I blame the police too. What did they see to warrant shooting him.

It's beyond ridiculous to imagine. Seriously, imagine sitting in your home gaming and they bust in shooting you.

What do they see to shoot you? Don't they have any thinking skills?

I do understand if it's real you want to handle it as soon as possible but they are going into a very unknown situation.

Obviously on the flip if you are a hostage you would totally want quick reaction times.

So I still give much more blame on the caller.

But the shooting of small dogs and aggressive behavior for small situations are beyond heartless and ridiculous.
 
Megatron

Megatron

Member
brad-t said:
As if there wasn't a ridiculous precedent of falsified police reports in similar situations, there are so many holes in this report. Why would Dobbs acknowledge the police yet ignore them, knowing full-well that he would probably be shot for doing so? Let alone keeping his "hand inside the lower front of his shirt" (a classic excuse). They also made contact with a woman inside the home before they made contact with Dobbs — should it not have been clear that there was something amiss with the caller's story immediately after speaking to her?

It is impossible to get around the fact that someone on the other side of the planet was able to coerce police officers into shooting an innocent man in the face with a plainly false story, and absurd to absolve those who pulled the trigger.
Click to expand...


The fact that some reports are falsified doesnt mean all or even most are. Even if you dont take this report as 100% accurate/unbiased, I think the crux comes down to him being asked to surrender himself and he refused. I cant see any other reason to shoot him. Do you think he agreed and they shot him anyway? Do you think they didnt ask and just shot him? What do you think happened?

He is absolutely the victim Here, and its horrible that this happened to him. I hope the guy who called gets life in prison. But if the police point guns at you and tell you to surrender, I think you have to do it and let lawyers work out the rest if it comes to that.
 
F

Frozenprince

Banned
Megatron said:
The fact that some reports are falsified doesnt mean all or even most are. Even if you dont take this report as 100% accurate/unbiased, I think the crux comes down to him being asked to surrender himself and he refused. I cant see any other reason to shoot him. Do you think he agreed and they shot him anyway? Do you think they didnt ask and just shot him? What do you think happened?

He is absolutely the victim Here, and its horrible that this happened to him. I hope the guy who called gets life in prison. But if the police point guns at you and tell you to surrender, I think you have to do it and let lawyers work out the rest if it comes to that.
Click to expand...
It's the middle of the night. He's probably exhausted. A bunch of unknown, heavily armed men screaming at him I'm sure several different commands at different volumes. He's not sure what's going on, but he knows he didn't do anything. There's no legal reason that forces him to comply to a bunch of armed men bearing down on him.

You are absolutely 100% victim blaming in this situation. He. Could. Have. Died.

Trusting a biased account from a department that had a ton to lose if they acted with impropriety, is lunacy in this age where incidents like this occur to people of color on the regular.
 
G

geomon

Member
So the police were responding to a hostage situation and they just ran in and shot him? What if he actually had bombs and hostages?
 
D

Dark_AnNiaLatOr

Member
At first I only read up to that he got shot in between the eyes and I looked at the picture and was extremely sad and disgusted at the gruesome picture. I'm really glad they weren't real bullets.
 
F

Frozenprince

Banned
Vanguard771 said:
News Outlet that published the police report. This happened in 2015.

http://wjla.com/features/7-on-your-...ime-trend-both-locally-and-nationally--115595
Click to expand...
I will now post the "other side" that was said to be unavailable.

His father, Tom Dobbs, claims he tried to persuade arriving SWAT officers that his son was at home asleep. "I said, 'man are y'all going to go up there and kill my son? I said, 'man, he's sleeping!," his father explained.

Dobb's adult cousin, who was inside the apartment at the time and got the call from police to come outside, said she told officers that nothing was going on inside the apartment, as well. She said, "I am telling you we are fine, we are okay so you should have dropped your guns when we were walking out."

Dobbs himself said when police woke him up with a call on his cellphone, he said he told them he would come outside. Dobbs said he walked around the apartment looking for something to put on because it was a cold February night. He said he walked out to the living room, saw the SWAT{ } team, and heard police yelling at him to come out. He said he turned around to go get his girlfriend but was shot. He said he doesn't remember anything after that rubber bullet him in the face.

Dobbs' father recalled the moment he was allowed back inside the apartment and saw the pool of blood. "I came in and saw all the blood out there and I said, 'Is that from my son?' He said, "He has a slight head injury." Dobbs' girlfriend, Amelia Freidmann, and Dobbs' father didn't see him until the following day while he was in ICU at a local trauma hospital. Friedmann said, "I actually...I couldn't handle it. I actually ran to the bathroom and threw up when I first saw him. It was heartbreaking."

The Dobbs family says there were no apologies and no further explanations from police. Dobbs said he can't understand why police didn't listen to his family when they told them nothing was happening inside the apartment. He said, "How did y'all not trace this call back? How did y'all not figure out where it came from?" Dobbs added, "I want justice. I want them to pay for my medical damages and I want whoever shot me in my face to have to do some time."

Police say Dobbs was shot twice with two rubber rounds to prevent him from reentering the apartment. A Howard County Police Department spokesperson said Dobbs repeatedly refused to obey officer's commands, and also allegedly had his hand in his shirt, though police do not have video evidence of it.

When asked, Dobbs denied having his hand in his shirt, and said he had nothing in his hands at all.

The department said Dobbs was shot in the face as he was "falling forward," according to a written statement to 7 on Your Side.
Click to expand...
 
J

Jack The Nipper

Banned
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.
 
Megatron

Megatron

Member
edit: read the above. Way different than the police report. May come down to witnesses. Sucks all around. I hope the guy who called gets a long sentance, and if the officers acted inappropriately I hope they get jail time.
 
F

Frozenprince

Banned
Megatron said:
You are basing all this on speculation as far as I can tell. You are literally combating an official police report with things you just made up. I would love to hear his side of the story, and even more so, that of witnesses. Unfortunately, all we have at this moment is the police report.
Click to expand...
The report that was just posted corroborates my belief that the police shot first and asked questions later.
 
B

Barzul

Member
Megatron said:
Since I am sure most of the people in here burying the police wont click this, I will post the details.


"Police responded to the scene and determined Tyran Dobbs was, in fact, inside the residence with three females. They contacted the lease holder for the apartment, who advised he is Mr. Dobbs
’
father. According to police reports from a lieutenant and sergeant on-scene, Mr. Dobbs
’
father advised that there was a gun in the apartment and that he could not be sure whether or not these were credible threats from his son. Negotiators made contact with a woman inside the apartment, who was able to exit with her child. They were immediately transported away from the scene for their safety and to be interviewed. A third female, believed to be Mr. Dobbs
’
girlfriend, remained inside. 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."

TLDR: The police got a call that Dobbs had hostages and would start killing them in 15 minutes. Contacted Dobbs' father, confirmed he had a gun, approached Dobbs in his house asked him 3 times to come out and show his hands, Dobbs refused and was shot with rubber bullets.
Click to expand...

"Police report". No way they'd make themselves look good, no way at all. They're completely, honest, incorruptible, with absolutely no ounce of self interest or preservation. You can always trust our police!
 
M

MegaSackman

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.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Rainbow Six Siege cheater sentenced for swatting Ubisoft Montreal offices
News
20
2K
Danjin44 replied
Phil Spencer interview - Says that their intent is for all Xbox games, including Call of Duty, to be available on Xbox Game Pass Day One
2 3
102
7K
Kenneth Haight replied
  • Locked
How The Last of Us became 'the greatest story' ever told in video games
Opinion Analysis 2 3 4 5
203
18K
Elysium44 replied
Bomb squad called after man gets WWII mortar stuck up his bottom
35
2K
Nobody_Important replied
Gravel news: Utah man calls police after PS5 eBay order turns out to be concrete!
39
3K
ArthriticZombie replied
Top Bottom