Teen arson suspect accused of terroristic threats against North Texas schools

The teenager charged with a string of five car arsons in a Fort Worth neighborhood was also one of the people responsible for social media threats against North Texas schools last week, police said Tuesday.

Evan Banda, 17, now faces additional charges of terroristic threat and terrorism, police said in a news release.

Fort Worth police began investigating the threats of mass violence after a video began circulating on social media Jan. 6. The video showed a masked man holding a handgun in front of what appears to be a Nazi flag.

“Many people will die,” the man, wearing a yellow hockey mask, says through a voice-distortion filter. “We will kill in every way possible: shooting, bombing, cutting. We will be as cruel as possible.” According to social media posts, the man claimed to belong to a group referred to as ENDTEX.

Fort Worth police believe that video originated from an extremist hate group overseas, officials said at the time. The video was initially posted on one social media platform before being widely circulated on more accounts and followed by additional threatening messages, police said.

Included in the threatening messages, police said, was video footage of Crowley Middle School, which police later determined Banda was responsible for recording, according to the statement.

Additional videos that investigators say Banda recorded of fires that he set in cars in south Fort Worth were also connected to the social media accounts, police say. Banda was arrested on Thursday, Jan. 8, on five counts of arson related to the car fires near Fox Run Park.

Evidence in the terroristic threat case tied Banda to a “violent extremist hate organization,” and showed that he “acted in support of extremist ideologies,” police said. Police did not name the extremist organization.

Investigators also found evidence to charge Banda with possession of child pornography, according to the statement.

Banda is being held in the Tarrant County Jail with bond set at $1.9 million.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

This story was originally published January 13, 2026 at 2:48 PM.