A 17-year-old from California was extradited to Florida on Tuesday to face felony charges for allegedly calling in a fake mass shooting at a mosque.
Now, newly released court documents show this teen is believed to have orchestrated hundreds of such “swatting” calls across the U.S. that targeted schools, the homes of FBI agents and even the Pentagon.
Swatting refers to the act of calling 911 to report a non-existent crime with the intention of triggering a police response.
Alan Winston Filion, 17, is awaiting trial over allegations he called Florida police, claiming that he had a gun and explosive devices, and was going to commit a mass shooting at a mosque, the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office wrote in an online release.
During the call, he stated he was entering the Masjid Al Hayy Mosque in Sanford, Fla., made references to Satanism and then “began playing audio of gunfire in the background.”
Thirty officers were dispatched to the mosque, but upon arrival, authorities found no shooter and everybody was safe.
This swatting incident occurred on May 12, 2023, and since then, Seminole police have been working with the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the crime.
“Through extensive collaboration, it was determined that the suspect, later identified as Alan Winston Filion, 17, of Lancaster, California, created several accounts on websites offering swatting services. Various IP addresses connected to these accounts led to Filion’s home address,” Seminole police wrote.
The FBI obtained a search warrant for Filion’s home and seized numerous electronic devices. Analysis of the devices turned up enough evidence to obtain a warrant for the teen’s arrest.
Filion was taken into custody and booked in his home state of California on Jan. 18 by the Los Angeles Police Department before he was extradited to Florida on Tuesday.
He was charged with one count each of making a false report to law enforcement concerning the planting of a bomb or use of a weapon of mass destruction, making a false report concerning the commission of a capital felony and making a false report causing a public safety response, according to online court documents.
Filion also faces a charge of unlawful use of a two-way communication device. He has pleaded not guilty to all four charges. He is being tried as an adult.
This incident isn’t the only swatting call Filion is accused of making, however: court documents obtained by NBC and CNN state that Filion is allegedly responsible for swatting high schools, historically Black colleges, private homes and military bases. He may have even targeted his own home.
Filion allegedly offered his swatting services in Telegram posts, which were tracked by the FBI. So far, the teen has been linked to swatting attempts in Louisiana, Maryland, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington, the documents claim.
Last year, the teen allegedly called in a bomb threat to the FBI facility in West Virginia that houses a newly created online database for tracking swatting incidents. A 911 caller stated he had stashed three dozen pipe bombs around the building that would detonate in 30 minutes — but no explosives were ever found.
In the following days, a number of top FBI agents had swatting calls directed to their own homes, including the head of the FBI facility that was originally targeted.
Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma characterized swatting as a “perilous and senseless crime, which puts innocent lives in dangerous situations and drains valuable resources.”
“The substantial law enforcement response in this swaatting case underscores our unwavering dedication to community safety and holding offenders accountable, regardless of where they are located. Make no mistake, we will continue to work tirelessly in collaboration with our policing partners and the judiciary to apprehend swatting perpetrators,” Lemma added.
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