CA Teen Charged In FL Mosque Swatting Call: Seminole County Sheriff

SEMINOLE COUNTY, FL — A California teenager faces numerous felony charges for making a swatting call against a Florida mosque, according to a Seminole County Sheriff’s Office news release.

Alan Winston Filion, 17, of Lancaster, California, was taken into custody and extradited to Seminole County, Florida, on Wednesday. He was booked into John E. Polk Correctional Facility, where he was charged as an adult, without bond.

Investigators believe Filion may also be connected to other swatting incidents across the United States.

Seminole County law enforcement received a call on May 12 from a man who said he was entering the Masjid Al Hayy Mosque in Sanford to conduct a mass shooting, the sheriff’s office said.

The caller referenced Satanism and said he had a handgun and explosive devices. He also played audio of gunfire in the background.

About 30 officers responded to the mosque. After finding no shooter and the mosque staff safe, they realized the call was a swatting incident, SCSO said.

The agency’s Domestic Security Division worked with the Department of Justice and FBI to investigate the call.

Investigators determined that the suspect, later identified as Filion, created several accounts on websites offering swatting services, the sheriff’s office said.

Various IP addresses connected to these accounts led to Filion’s home, where the FBI served a search warrant on July 15. Based on information gathered during the search warrant and evidence found on devices taken from the home, a warrant was obtained for his arrest.

Filion was arrested Jan. 18 with help from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. He was taken into custody and booked into the Los Angeles Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall.

He was charged as an adult in Florida with the following felonies:

• making a false report concerning planting of a bomb, explosive or use of a weapon of mass destruction or concerning the use of firearms in a violent manner while facilitating or furthering an act of terrorism and while evidencing prejudice based on the race, color, ancestry, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, homeless status or advanced age of the victim;
• unlawful use of a two-way communication device while facilitating or furthering an act of terrorism and while evidencing prejudice based on the race, color, ancestry, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, homeless status or advanced age of the victim;
• making a false report to law enforcement concerning commission of a capital felony while facilitating or furthering an act of terrorism and while evidencing prejudice based on the race, color, ancestry, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, homeless status or advanced age of the victim; and
• making a false report to law enforcement causing public safety agency response (swatting) while facilitating or furthering an act of terrorism and while evidencing prejudice based on the race, color, ancestry, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, homeless status or advanced age of the victim.