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    Die Schießereien in der Schule waren gefälscht. Der Terror war real


    Die Schießereien in der Schule waren gefälscht. Der Terror war real

    https://www.wired.com/school-swatting-torswats-brad-dennis/

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    1. wiredmagazine on

      From 2022 to 2024, a teen who used the name Torswats made or orchestrated more than 375 hoax calls about mass shootings and bomb threats at schools, as well as places of worship and politicians’ homes.

      This is the story of the hunt for the worst school swatter in US history.

      Torswats triggered lockdowns, evacuations, and panic across the United States, and wrote online that he hoped to cause tens of millions of dollars in damage and wasted police resources. For dispatchers, school staff, students and police, he caused absolute terror.

      As he watched panic ensue from his swatting threats, Torswats mocked victims in a private Telegram channel. In one swatting spree, he posted screenshots of a map of Washington State, crossing off counties as he swatted schools in each one, dozens in total, over a 48 hour period.

      All of this was particularly appalling to Brad Dennis, a digitally savvy private investigator who spent every waking hour trying to find the person behind Torswats. In fact, Dennis’s undercover work would eventually lead law enforcement to Torswats’ online accounts linked to his real identity.

      Yet even after Dennis gave this lead to the FBI, it took months for agents to search Torswats’ home, and close to a year before he was finally arrested. The teen who turned out to be behind the swattings? 17-year-old Alan Filion.

      By that time, Filion had already unleashed another reign of terror, working with two individuals overseas to target a hundred politicians and law enforcement officials between Christmas and New Years Eve Christmas in 2023.

      The FBI declined to answer WIRED’s questions about why it took so long to bring Filion to justice, but told Dennis that the delay was due to the complexity of the case and Filion’s status as a 17-year-old minor. When Dennis’ investigation into the swattings had begun, Filion had been only 15 years old.

      The full story: [https://www.wired.com/school-swatting-torswats-brad-dennis/](https://www.wired.com/school-swatting-torswats-brad-dennis/)

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