For more than a year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been investigating a man who experts say is one of the most prolific criminals in U.S. history. Law enforcement now believes they have finally arrested those responsible.
A 17-year-old from California is the suspected hitman known as Towwats, according to a person familiar with the investigation. The teenager is currently in custody, awaiting extradition from California to Seminole County, Florida. The Florida Attorney's Office told WIRED that he faces four felony charges.
Seminole County, located in central Florida, has seen two high-profile swatting incidents in the past 12 months, one targeting a mosque and the other targeting a courthouse. This is what I did. Todd Brown, a spokesman for the 18th Circuit Florida Attorney's Office, confirmed the charges and extradition against the boy. Brown said he will be charged as an adult under Florida law. WIRED is withholding the 17-year-old's name because he is a minor.
The teenager's arrest comes amid a nationwide surge in swatting. In a swatting attack, someone typically calls 911 to report a fake attack, seeking an overwhelming police response. Since Christmas, swatters have targeted the homes of prominent politicians from both parties, a judge who handles cases involving former President Donald Trump, and the head of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
These high-profile attacks were preceded by a relentless campaign by a variety of potentially foreign threat groups targeting hundreds of schools and universities across the United States over the past year and a half. Last May, a Danvers, Massachusetts, police officer accidentally fired his service weapon while responding to a swatting incident at a school. In February, a Saginaw Township, Michigan, police officer responded to a knock-down call and rammed his car through a locked school door to gain entry into the building.
Charges against the California teen include planting a bomb and falsely reporting the use of a firearm, prompting a law enforcement response, according to the Florida Attorney's Office. All charges are related to acts of terrorism and are described as showing prejudice based on race, color, ancestry, ethnicity, or religion.
In private Telegram chats seen by WIRED over the past year, the person operating the Tawswatts handle made hundreds of bomb threats and mass shootings against schools, politicians' homes, courthouses, and religious sites across the country. The company has claimed responsibility for the false alarm.
Brad “Cuffrozen” Dennis, a private investigator working for a prominent Twitch streamer who was swatted, has been following Tawswatts for nearly two years and is actively assisting the FBI in their investigation. “It’s a great day,” Dennis says. “I'm very relieved that the Toa will no longer be able to wage a reign of terror against our schools and public servants who are just doing their jobs.”
According to records shared with WIRED, in December 2022, Dennis engaged with someone using the Tolswats handle on a peer-to-peer chat service called Tox, under the guise of Swats orders. By recording his network traffic, investigators secretly captured the swatter's IP address. It also included usernames that were unknown to law enforcement at the time. Dennis said he turned over the evidence in January 2023 to the FBI special agent assigned to Torswatz's case. In an email shared with WIRED, the FBI told Dennis that this information was used in subpoenas sent to YouTube and Discord. Court records related to the case against the California teen have not yet been released.