Man with elaborate plan for Haltom High School shooting guilty of terror threat
A man who when he was 18 wrote online that he wanted to kill himself and shoot others at Haltom High School has been found guilty at trial of terroristic threat and on Tuesday was in effect sentenced to serve 10 years of probation.
A law enforcement examination of Ephraim Miala’s phone yielded a detailed manifesto that included an elaborate plan to conduct a shooting at Haltom High in Haltom City before moving to a nearby middle school to continue the shooting, a Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office prosecutor wrote in a motion on bond in the case.
Miala described in writing his efforts to try to purchase an AR-15 rifle in order to complete his “project,” according to the district attorney’s office.
After North Richland Hills police officers spoke in April 2024 to Miala about the threat, he was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth for evaluation.
A jury in the 396th District Court on Monday found Miala, now 20, guilty of terroristic threat to place the public in fear of serious bodily injury and on Tuesday assessed his punishment at 10 years in prison probated for 10 years.
On his phone and social media, Miala had videos and photos depicting known mass shooters, mass shootings and violence, according to prosecutors. It is not clear whether the jury heard evidence of those images.
Miala made statements on his social media expressing admiration for mass shooters of college students in Isla Vista, California, employees of a Pennsylvania grocery store, and students at Virginia Tech and at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, according to prosecutors.
Miala’s search history included queries related to mass shooters and attempts to acquire rifles, GoPro cameras and tactical gear.
Defense attorney Lisa Hoobler who, with Chris Lankford, was appointed by the court to represent Miala, did not respond to a reporter’s request for comment.
Assistant District Attorneys Tim Rodgers and Lloyd Whelchel represented the state.
Judge Vincent Giardino presided at the trial.
This story was originally published October 28, 2025 at 3:32 PM.
