swatting

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Teen Who Made Hundreds of Swatting Calls Sentenced

Alan Winston Filion, 18, also threatened bombings, mass shootings

(Newser) - A California teenager behind hundreds of swatting calls and bomb threats has been sentenced to four years in federal prison. According to a plea agreement, Alan Winston Filion, 18, made more than 375 such calls across the US threatening religious institutions, high schools, historically Black colleges, and even the Pentagon...

Inside the Hunt for a Notorious Swatter
Inside the Hunt
for a Notorious Swatter
longform
Jan 25, 2025 3:30 PM CST

Inside the Hunt for a Notorious Swatter

Wired reports how a lone private investigator helped authorities catch their man

(Newser) - He went by the name "Torswats" online, a reference to the particular brand of terror he reveled in unleashing: swatting, or placing a hoax call about a shooting that results in an aggressive police response. In fact, in what a deeply reported story at Wired describes as a "...

Bomb Threat to Greene's Home Results in Woman's Death

Lawmaker says she is 'heartsick' after death of woman hit by officer responding to threat

(Newser) - Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene says she is "heartsick" after a bomb threat at her Rome, Georgia home led to a woman's death. Police spokesperson Kelly Madden tells USA Today that a member of the county bomb squad called to deal with the threat on Monday was involved in...

Trump Nominees Targeted by Bomb Threats, Swatting

Sources say almost a dozen of Trump's picks for top jobs received threats

(Newser) - Several of President-elect Trump's picks for top jobs in his administration were targeted Tuesday night and Wednesday morning by what transition team spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt says were "violent, un-American threats to their lives and those who live with them." Leavitt said the nominees were targeted by attacks...

11-Year-Old Busted in Multistate Swatting Calls

Virginia boy called in bomb, shooting threats to Florida school, other venues, say authorities

(Newser) - An 11-year-Virginia boy is charged in Florida with calling in more than 20 bomb or shooting threats to schools and other places, authorities said Thursday. Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said during a news conference that authorities worked hard to find the swatting caller before the school year resumes. "...

Wild Swatting Calls Allegedly Came From a Cop

Alabama police chief says Christopher Eugene Sanspree Jr. 'thought it was funny'

(Newser) - Police departments across the country have been speaking out about swatting as a form of criminal harassment that endangers innocent people as well as police officers. But apparently not all cops think it's so serious. As WAGA and WSFA report, Alabama police officer Christopher Eugene Sanspree Jr., 23, allegedly...

911 Call Resulted in 'Guns Drawn' at Her Parents, Haley Says
Nikki Haley
Was Swatted
a Second Time
updated
Jan 29, 2024 6:40 PM CST

Nikki Haley Was Swatted a Second Time

Records show caller told 911 the candidate had shot her daughter

(Newser) - Nikki Haley was the subject of a second hoax call to 911, two days after the one she confirmed Sunday. A caller told the dispatcher on Jan. 1 that Haley had shot her daughter, who was lying in a pool of blood, per Reuters , which has seen the incident report....

Latest Swatting Victim: the White House

DC Fire spokesperson says fake call was in 'same spirit' as recent 'swatting' incidents

(Newser) - A fake 911 call that the White House was on fire sent emergency vehicles to the complex Monday morning, when President Biden and his family were at Camp David. Fire engines and other emergency vehicles responded to a report just after 7am that the White House was ablaze and a...

On Last Day of Trump's Fraud Trial, a Bomb Threat

Swatting incident at judge's home fails to delay closing arguments

(Newser) - Police responded to a bomb threat at the Long Island home of the judge presiding over former President Donald Trump's civil fraud case on Thursday, hours before closing arguments were to begin. It's unclear if Judge Arthur Engoron was home when a Nassau County bomb squad responded around...

Special Counsel, Judge in Trump Cases Were Swatted: Sources

Cops were reportedly sent to DC-area homes of both Jack Smith, Tanya Chutkan in recent weeks

(Newser) - According to an attorney for Jack Smith, the special counsel overseeing two federal cases involving former President Trump has been subjected to "threats" and "intimidating communications" ever since he brought indictments against Trump. Now, Smith and his family have become the victims of a swatting incident, in which...

Latest Victim in Swatting Spree: Soros
Now Soros
Has Been
Swatted
Jan 3, 2024 6:33 AM CST

Now Soros Has Been Swatted

Police were reportedly called to his Long Island mansion Saturday

(Newser) - George Soros has reportedly become the latest high-profile figure to be targeted in a string of swattings. The billionaire philanthropist's estate in Southampton, New York, was swatted around 9pm Saturday, per the New York Post . The Southampton Village Police Department reportedly received a 911 call from a man who...

Maine Official Who Ruled Against Trump Is Swatted

Police respond to false alarm at home of Shenna Bellows

(Newser) - A fake emergency call to police resulted in officers responding Friday night to the home of Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows just a day after she removed Donald Trump from the state's presidential primary ballot. She becomes the latest elected politician to become a target of swatting , which...

GOP Senator Says His Home Was 'Swatted'

Rick Scott was at dinner with his wife at the time

(Newser) - Marjorie Taylor Greene isn't the only Republican lawmaker getting "swatted" : Sen. Rick Scott says it happened to him Wednesday night. "Last night, while at dinner with my wife, cowards 'swatted' my home in Naples," the Florida Republican posted on X Thursday, referring to hoax calls...

Greene Says Swatting Interrupted Family's Holiday
Greene: I Was Just Swatted
Dec 25, 2023 3:30 PM CST

Greene: I Was Just Swatted

Georgia Republican says false crime report is another in a series

(Newser) - Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's tormentors thought of her on the holiday. "I was just swatted. This is like the 8th time," the Republican posted Monday on X. "On Christmas with my family here." A series of phone calls starting last year have falsely reported crimes...

Prosecutor: Teen Had Very Bad Plan to Get Friend Off Work

Missouri man allegedly made 'swatting' call that forced evacuation of Ford plant

(Newser) - A 19-year-old man in Missouri allegedly had a plan to get his friend off work and in one way, it was a success: Ford's assembly plant in Claycomo, near Kansas City, was evacuated and production was halted Tuesday night after a caller said they were barricaded in a second-floor...

Gamer Sentenced for Role in Deadly 'Swatting'

Cops killed innocent man at fake address Shane Gaskill gave rival gamer

(Newser) - A Wichita man was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison for his role in a hoax phone call that led police to shoot and kill an innocent man in 2017. Shane Gaskill, who was 19 at the time of the crime, was sentenced after pleading guilty in May to...

Marjorie Taylor Greene Says She Was 'Swatting' Victim

911 caller claimed man was shot 5 times at her home

(Newser) - Police in northwest Georgia say they're investigating a bogus 911 call received early Wednesday that claimed a person had been shot multiple times at a residence in Rome, Floyd County. Debbie Burnett, Rome's assistant police chief, says officers responding to the call discovered it was the home of...

Teen Pleads Guilty After Grandfather Dies in 'Swatting'

Mark Herring, 60, was being pressured to give up his Twitter handle

(Newser) - A teenager wanted a Twitter handle, and now a 60-year-old grandfather is dead. Federal prosecutors say Shane Sonderman pressured Mark Herring to give up @Tennessee, which Herring had been using since 2008. Herring’s family say they were harassed for hours with messages, unasked-for pizza deliveries, and false reports of...

Cops Getting Irked at Bogus 911 Calls for J-Lo's Home

The 'swatting' has been going on for months

(Newser) - Back in March, reports emerged that Jennifer Lopez had become a "swatting" victim of sorts, with more than a dozen 911 calls made since mid-January that brought police to her Los Angeles-area home—only for cops to find no one was home and that the complaints, which ranged from...

Teen Charged in 'Swatting' Ring Linked to Neo-Nazis

John William Kirby Kelley, 19, was charged last week

(Newser) - The US Justice Department has charged a former Virginia college student with calling in fake emergencies to prompt law enforcement responses, in coordination with a group the FBI labelled as sympathetic to neo-Nazi ideology, the AP reports. John William Kirby Kelley, 19, was charged last week with conspiracy to make...

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