New Mexico man pleads guilty in Delaware swatting case

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — A New Mexico man has pleaded guilty to making interstate bomb threats against an elementary school and a Walmart in southern Delaware.

Twenty-nine-year-old Stephen Scott Landes of Roswell, New Mexico, entered the plead Monday in federal court in Wilmington. He faces up to 10 years in prison at sentencing in November.

Prosecutors say Landes falsely reported in May 2018 that he had planted bombs at the Georgetown school and the Walmart while claiming to be a Georgetown resident.

Such schemes, which cause police and SWAT teams to respond to fake emergencies, are known as "swatting."

Authorities say the Delaware incident stemmed from an online feud between Landes and a Georgetown man, who himself is accused of falsely reporting shootings and other emergencies at locations in five states.