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Wichita police promote officer who killed man

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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Wichita Police Department has promoted an officer who killed an unarmed man in a “swatting” incident.

The Wichita Eagle reported Sunday that Justin Rapp was promoted to detective on June 25. Interim Chief Lem Moore said Rapp qualified for promotion based on written and oral examinations. He added that the killing didn’t disqualify Rapp for promotion since he wasn’t disciplined.

Rapp shot 28-year-old Andrew Finch in December 2017 while responding to a fake call of a hostage situation at Finch’s address. Rapp initially told detectives that he thought Finch had a gun but testified later that he didn’t see a weapon and shot him based on his hand motions.

Prosecutors declined to file charges against Rapp. City officials said the department followed procedures that night and Rapp was forced to make a split-second decision after the fake call led him to believe Finch had taken hostages and had killed at least one person.

Finch's death drew national attention to “swatting,” a form of retaliation in which someone reports a false emergency to get authorities, particularly a SWAT team, to descend on an address.