A California teen is suspected of being behind hundreds of dangerous swatting incidents, Florida prosecutors say.
Alan Winston Filion, 17, is accused of calling police in Seminole County, Florida, on May 12, 2023, and making a fake mass shooting threat on a local mosque.
The male caller referenced Satanism, added audio of gunfire in the background, and said he was armed with pipe bombs and multiple firearms, prompting dozens of law enforcement officers to respond to the swatting call, per court documents filed in Seminole County court.
Florida state investigators, with the assistance of the FBI, identified Filion as the suspect in the incident, and his home in Lancaster, California was raided in July.
He was arrested Jan. 18 in California and extradited to Seminole County on Tuesday.
He has been charged as an adult in the incident and faces one felony count each of false report concerning planting of a bomb, unlawful use of a two-way communication device while facilitating or furthering an act of terrorism, a false report to law enforcement causing public safety agency, and a false report to law enforcement concerning commission of a capital felony while facilitating or furthering an act of terrorism.