A California adolescent has been detained and taken from one side of the country to the other to face serious accusations of swatting a mosque in Florida.

Seventeen-year-old Alan Winston Filion was taken into custody on January 18 by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department based on a warrant from Seminole County, Florida. According to court documents, he was then transported to central Florida on Tuesday to face charges of false reporting and unlawful use of a two-way communication device. As an adult, he will be prosecuted for these offenses.

Sheriff Dennis Lemma stated that swatting is a reckless and pointless offense that endangers innocent individuals and depletes valuable resources. He emphasized the significant effort made by law enforcement in response to this swatting incident, demonstrating their unwavering commitment to ensuring community safety and pursuing offenders, regardless of their location.

Swatting is the practice of making a prank call to emergency services in an attempt to bring about the dispatch of a large number of armed police officers to a particular address. Bomb threats go back decades in the U.S., but swatting has become especially popular in recent years as people and groups target celebrities and politicians.

In May, authorities in Seminole County were notified of a potential mass shooting at the Masjid Al Hayy Mosque in Sanford. The sheriff’s office dispatched around 30 officers to the scene, but upon investigation, no shooter was found and it was deemed a swatting situation.

The FBI and the local sheriff’s office collaborated to look into multiple accounts on websites that provided swatting services. After tracing various IP addresses, they found that they all linked back to Filion’s residence in Lancaster, California. In July, the FBI executed a search warrant at the home and based on the findings, obtained an arrest warrant for Filion.

The Domestic Security Division of SCSO collaborated with the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in ongoing investigations of the incident.

It is believed by investigators that Filion may have involvement in additional swatting occurrences throughout the United States. Records from court indicate that Filion may have specifically targeted various high schools, colleges, mosques, government offices, and military bases in several states.

The Associated Press attempted to contact the defense lawyer listed in court documents for Filion, but did not receive an immediate response to their email requesting a comment.

Source: wral.com