by CLEVELAND, Texas — Authorities were still searching Sunday for a man accused of fatally shooting five of his neighbors, including an 8-year-old boy, at his Texas home last week after one asked him to stop shooting in his garden.
The suspect, Francisco Oropesa, 38, was armed with a black AR-15 semi-automatic rifle when he went to the home in the Trails End area of Cleveland around 11:30 p.m. Friday and opened fire, the prosecutor’s office said. San Jacinto County Sheriff. . The FBI previously spelled the suspect’s last name as “Oropeza” but released the updated spelling as “Oropesa” on Sunday “to better reflect his identity in law enforcement systems,” the FBI said. fbi‘s houston office cheepeducate Sunday.
On Saturday, authorities believed they had the suspect within a search area of about 2 miles, but later said he may have passed by after they found his cellphone and clothing.
“He could be anywhere now,” Sheriff Greg Capers said at a news conference.
James Smith, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Houston area office, urged anyone who sees the suspect to call 911.
“We consider him armed and dangerous,” he said. “He’s out there and he’s a threat to the community.”
Authorities are offering an $80,000 reward for information leading to the suspect’s capture, they announced Sunday.
The state of Texas is offering $50,000 of the total reward money, and Multi-County Crime Stoppers, a local non-profit organization, is offering an additional $5,000. The FBI is offering another $25,000, Smith said.
Smith said Sunday that authorities are “running into dead ends” as he appealed to the public to share any relevant information.
“At this time, we have no leads on him,” he added.
Capers identified the five people killed as Sonia Argentina Guzmán, 25; Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18; and Daniel Enrique Laso, 8.
He said before that they were all from Honduras.
Capers choked on the victims on Sunday.
“My heart goes out to this 8-year-old boy,” Capers said. “I don’t care if he was here legally, I don’t care if he was here illegally. He was in my county, five people died in my county, and that’s where my heart is: in my county, protecting my people as best we can.”
He said authorities seized the rifle used in the attack, but the suspect may still be armed with a handgun.
Capers said scent-tracking dogs lost Oropesa’s trail Saturday and he could be 20 miles away or more. He said more than 150 police officers were looking for Oropesa on Saturday and more than 200 were involved in the search on Sunday, adding that they were going door-to-door looking for clues.
“It’s my number one priority to find him, because everyone here is looking for him,” Capers said.
The FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Texas Department of Public Safety were involved in the manhunt, authorities said. Some of the law enforcement officers they were looking for were on horseback.
Authorities said deputies were called to the home in reference to a harassment complaint.
“While en route, the communications center received multiple 911 calls from an active shooter incident at the dispatch location,” the sheriff’s department said.
What to know about the shooting in Texas
- The shooting occurred at a home in Cleveland, Texas, around 11:30 p.m. Friday.
- Ten people were in the house. Five have died, including an 8-year-old boy.
- One suspect, Francisco Oropesa, is accused of using an AR-15 rifle and is believed to have fled the county.
- Oropeza was not in custody Saturday night.
Four of the victims were found dead inside the home, the sheriff’s office said Saturday. Facebook. The boy died in a hospital.
The victims were found in the living room and one bedroom and by the front door.
“There were two women in the bedroom who were lying on top of the minor children and, in my opinion, to keep them safe,” Capers said in an interview.
“All of them were execution style headshots,” he said.
Three children were taken to the hospital. Capers said they were “covered in blood” but suffered no physical injuries. They are safe and with family, Capers said Sunday.
Two other people at the home were evaluated at the scene and released, the sheriff’s office said.
An arrest warrant was issued for the suspect, who is a Mexican citizen, and a judge set him on $5 million bail. He faces five counts of murder.
Capers said the suspect is alleged to have fired his gun in the front yard of his home, but it was not entirely clear whether shooting on his property was illegal. It could depend on the size of the property, he said.
Officers have been to the residence in the past based on similar complaints about open gunshots, he said.
Shortly before the shooting, one of the victims came out and told the suspect that her baby was trying to sleep, Capers said.
In an interview, Capers described what allegedly happened next:
“This man takes it upon himself to walk out of his residence with a loaded AR-15, go outside, walk down the street, walk into that man’s driveway, walk into that man’s house, and start shooting.”
He said it’s been a difficult case.
“To walk in the door and see four, and then a baby in the hospital being the fifth, it’s grotesque,” he said in the interview.
He said he believes up to 15 rounds were fired at the home.
The San Jacinto County Democratic Party said it would cancel a planned annual fundraiser Saturday night and instead hold a prayer vigil for the victims.
“San Jacinto County is devastated by the horrific events that occurred last night,” John Michael Adams, county party chairman, said in a statement. “We decided there was no point in having our annual fundraiser tonight anymore, but we still felt we needed to come together as a community, however we could, and send our love and prayers to the loved ones of the victims of this nonsense.” shooting.”
Cleveland is approximately 45 miles north of Houston.
