A Seattle man has been arrested for making over 20 "swatting" calls across the United States and Canada, which prompted real emergency responses to fake reports of shootings, bombs or other threats.
Using VOIP to conceal his identity, 20-year-old Ashton Connor Garcia of Bremerton broadcast his calls over Discord for entertainment, according to federal prosecutors, which have slapped him with 10 felony counts filed in the US District Court in Tacoma, Washington.
Garcia could spend up to a decade in prison if found guilty.
"Every time Mr. Garcia is alleged to have made one of his false reports to law enforcement, he triggered a potentially deadly event—sending heavily armed police officers to an address where they mistakenly believed they would confront someone who was armed and dangerous," said Seattle US Attorney Nick Brown in a Thursday press release.
"Fortunately, no one was hurt, but the unpredictable and terrifying dynamic these calls created for Mr. Garcia’s alleged victims cannot be overstated."
Garcia’s arrest came as a spate of threats and false reports of shooters have been pouring into schools and colleges across the country, unnerving officials, parents and students who are already on edge about actual school shootings—including at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, this week.
Computer-generated calls on Wednesday made hoax claims about active shooters in Pennsylvania, and a day earlier, nearly 30 Massachusetts schools received fake threats. -AP
Specifically, the indictment charges Garcia with these crimes:
According to prosecutors, Garcia collected personal information about his victims and threatened to send emergency responses to their homes unless they paid a ransom of money or credit card information. He also threatened to release sexually explicit images.
Authorities said that in some cases, law enforcement entered homes with guns drawn and detained people inside.
In other cases, Garcia called in fake bomb scares, including at the Fox News station in Cleveland, Ohio, and on July 28 for an August 23 flight from Honolulu to Los Angeles. In another instance, he threatened to bomb a Los Angeles airport unless he was sent $200,000 in bitcoin.
According to the indictment, Garcia called agencies in California, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oho, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington and Edmonton, in Alberta, Canada.