An 18-year-old turned fake 911 calls into a criminal business, terrorizing schools, churches, and communities nationwide with threats of violence.
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LANCASTER, CA
– A teenager from California has pleaded guilty to a string of hoax emergency calls that caused widespread panic and wasted law enforcement resources across the United States. Alan W. Filion, 18, of Lancaster, California, admitted to making more than 375 “swatting” calls targeting schools, religious institutions, and even government officials, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
What is Swatting, and How Did Filion Exploit It?
Swatting involves making false emergency calls to provoke an armed response, often from SWAT teams. Filion’s actions, which spanned from August 2022 to January 2024, included threats of mass shootings and bombings, as well as claims of having weapons and explosives.
“For well over a year, Alan Filion targeted religious institutions, schools, government officials, and other innocent victims with hundreds of false threats of imminent mass shootings, bombings and other violent crimes. He caused profound fear and chaos and will now face the consequences of his actions,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco in a statement.
Filion, who began swatting at the age of 16, initially acted out of amusement but later turned his criminal activity into a business. By January 2023, he advertised his swatting services for a fee on social media. “6-9 months ago [he] decided to turn it into a business,” he wrote in an online post.
The Dangerous Fallout of Filion’s Hoaxes
Filion’s false emergency calls had dire consequences, including law enforcement officers arriving at targeted locations with weapons drawn. Innocent people were detained and searched, and in some cases, families were forcibly removed from their homes based on his fabricated threats.
In one particularly chilling example, Filion targeted a religious institution in Sanford, Florida, in May 2023, threatening to “commit a mass shooting” and “kill everyone.” He falsely claimed to possess an illegally modified AR-15, pipe bombs, and Molotov cocktails. In another instance, Filion threatened a high school in Washington state with bombings and a mass shooting in October 2022. He also targeted a Historically Black College & University (HBCU) in Florida, falsely claiming bombs were hidden in its campus housing.
“Alan Filion not only intended to cause as much harm as possible, but he also attempted to profit from these criminal activities by offering swatting-for-a-fee services,” said FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate. “Swatting poses severe danger to first responders and victims, wastes significant time and resources, and creates fear in communities.”
Facing Justice for a Trail of Fear
Filion was arrested in January 2024 on charges stemming from the May 2023 threats in Sanford, Florida. Despite being 17 at the time, federal charges were brought under the Federal Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention Act due to the gravity of his crimes.
He has pleaded guilty to four counts of making interstate threats, each carrying a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
Filion’s case highlights the escalating dangers of swatting and the impact it has on victims and law enforcement alike. The FBI and federal prosecutors emphasized their commitment to holding individuals accountable for these reckless acts, which jeopardize public safety and waste vital resources.
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