Teen Behind Hundreds of Swatting Attacks Pleads Guilty to Federal Charges

An 18-year-old from Lancaster, California—identified as Alan Winston Filion and believed to operate online as “Torswats”—has pleaded guilty to federal charges tied to a nationwide swatting spree involving hundreds of hoax shooting and bomb threats targeting schools, courthouses, and high-profile individuals. He faces up to five years per count for four federal charges of making interstate threats, while also confronting state-level felony charges in Florida related to a hoax threat against a Sanford mosque. Filion has been jailed nearly a year, maintains a not-guilty plea on state charges, and the federal case indicates his activities extended far beyond Florida.