A Lancaster teenager was behind bars in Florida Thursday for allegedly phoning in a false report of a mass shooting at a Seminole County mosque, and authorities suspect he may be tied to other similar “swatting” calls across the country.
Alan Winston Filion, 17, was arrested Jan. 18 but was extradited to Florida on Tuesday, according to the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff’s officials allege Filion made a hoax call on May 12, 2023, claiming that he was walking into the Masjid Al Hayy Mosque in Sanford, Florida, to carry out a mass shooting. He then played audio of gunfire in the background of the call.
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According to the sheriff’s office, roughly 30 law enforcement officers descended on the mosque, only to discover the call was a case of “swatting,” in which people make fake crime reports in hopes of eliciting a major response from law enforcement, including a SWAT team.