Man charged after firing shots near ex-workplace

A Wasola man, 37-year-old Samuel Miller, is charged with making a terrorist threat, harassment and armed criminal action in connection with a March 25, 2025, incident in which he allegedly shot several rounds from an automatic weapon his former workplace. 

According to the probable cause statement prepared by Ozark County Lt. Matthew Rhoades, the OCSD received a call on March 25 from an employee at the business. According to the employee, Miller had been fired two weeks prior and was upset about losing his job. The employee said Miller had texted her and other employees, saying “everyone involved with his firing would be held accountable.” 

“The suspect appeared to be very unstable in his text messages and voice recordings that I heard on scene,” Rhoades wrote in the statement. “The suspect stated that possibly no one would see him again, that he has a lot of personal stress in his life, etc.”

Miller, who rents a house approximately 100 yards from the business, was allegedly messaging the woman and another employee about “holding them to account.” Rhoades’s report says that at around 9:50 p.m. Wednesday night, the reporting victim and other employees who were working at the same time, heard a long burst of gunfire coming from the direction of Miller’s house.

“The suspect immediately messaged … victim #2 and then deleted it before victim #2 read the message,” Rhoades wrote. “[The employees] sought shelter in the factory and saw his vehicle speed away south on State Highway 5 past the factory. As we were responding to the scene, we passed his white Toyota Corolla on State Highway 5 but did not have a vehicle description at the time to watch for.”

According to the employee on scene, she sent all six of the workers home right after the shooting because she feared Miller might come to the business and carry out his threats, Rhoades reported in the statement. Because she lived at the business, she also planned on spending the night elsewhere for her safety once the officers secured the scene.

“Victim #1, victim #2 and victim #3 were still at the site and expressed fear that the suspect meant to harm them and had access to weapons, motivation and the ability to carry out violence on them,” Rhoades wrote in the probable cause statement. “Victim #1 appeared upset and frightened.

“All three victims stated [Miller] has bragged about beating a close friend severely in the past for a slight and showed pictures of blood splatter that resulted from the fight. They believed that he is unstable enough to carry out the threats resulting in the factory being shut down early and for the entire following day.”

All three victims said Miller allegedly has an AK-47 style rifle, a handgun, a shotgun and a .22 rifle, the statement said. “The burst of shots that they heard sounded like a ‘full magazine,’ so approximately 20-30 rounds,” said Rhoades in the report. 

All three victims told the officers they could hear the suspect yelling and cursing in his yard that afternoon, allegedly threatening several co-workers by name and saying they would all be held accountable.

“Deputy [Hunter] Ryan and I went to the house to contact the suspect but did not locate him. We did see multiple spent steel shell casings that appeared to be from a larger center-fire rifle as would be common for an AK-47 style rifle, in the side yard that were visible from the driveway. We canvassed the area for the suspect once the employees were all safely gone, but did not locate him,” Rhoades wrote.

According to the probable cause statement, Ozark County Deputy Jeffrey Lane drove past Miller’s residence the next day and saw that Miller’s white car was at the house.

Associate Judge Raymond Gross granted a search warrant and deputies met at the business prior to serving the warrant. According to the probable cause statement, Miller called Deputy Lane via Facebook and then came out of his house to meet the deputies. Rhoades said he spoke with Miller prior to his arrest. 

According to the probable cause statement, Miller said he was fired from the business and has been going through a lot in his personal life. “He texted victim #1 and only meant that the people that got him fired should be held accountable as he was (meaning they should be fired). He did not mean that to be a threat in any way and did not mean for them to take it that way.

“He stated he shot approximately 30 rounds from his AK towards a berm to ‘blow off some steam’ but did not shoot [at the business] and did not mean for them to feel threatened. He then decided to go fishing late at night.”

Miller said that when he returned to his home, he learned the police had been there and he contacted victim #1 to apologize to her, Rhoades wrote.

Rhoades wrote that the warrant was served and several items were collected from Miller’s residence and placed in evidence including 29 steel shell casings in the yard. “A large number of shell casings were located in a position inconsistent with the [area] where the casings would have landed if the AK was fired at the berm. We located nine firearms inside the residence and seized them as well as two cell phones.”

Miller is charged with E class felonies of second degree terrorist threat and first degree harassment and two charges of the unclassified felonies of armed criminal action. Class E felonies carry a sentence of up to four years in the Department of Corrections, one year in jail and/or a fine up to $10,000. Armed criminal action can carry a punishment of no less than three years in the DOC and not to exceed 15 years, to run consecutive to any other punishment.

Miller remains in the Ozark County Jail and is scheduled to appear before Judge Gross Wednesday, April 2.