Police Are Still Searching For Texas Guy Who Killed His Neighbours

More than 200 law enforcement officials in Texas are still looking for a man who is suspected of killing five of his neighbours with a semiautomatic rifle after being urged to halt in Cleveland, Texas.

After being told to stop using an AR-15-style weapon late on Friday because it was keeping a baby awake, Francisco Oropesa, 38, is accused of opening fire on neighbours. One of the casualties is a boy, age 8.

James Smith, the FBI’s special agent in charge in Houston, told reporters on Sunday that there are currently no leads.

Greg Capers, the sheriff for San Jacinto County, announced that over 200 officers were searching homes door to door for the suspect or any leads. An $80,000 reward is being offered by the authorities in exchange for information that will result in the suspect’s capture.

The name Oropesa was originally written as “Oropeza” in early correspondence with law enforcement, but the spelling was modified “to better reflect his identity in law enforcement systems,” the FBI said on Sunday. It provided no more information.

At 11.31 p.m. on Friday, authorities got a call from a residence in Cleveland, which is about 72 kilometers north of Houston. Capers claimed on Saturday that the suspect entered his yard on Friday night and began firing shots, at which point some of the victims came outside to tell him to stop.

The man approached the barrier and announced, “Hey, we’re trying to keep the baby asleep in here,” according to Capers. Then, both parties returned to their homes. Oropesa “topped off his magazine and walked down his driveway” onto the street, then “into the people’s house and started shooting,” Capers claimed.

According to Capers, the majority of the victims had their heads shot “almost execution-style.” All five, according to the police, are Hondurans.

According to Capers, the suspect’s home had received calls from neighbours before concerning noise coming from gunfire in his yard.

Sonia Argentina Guzman, age 25, Diana Velazquez Alvarado, age 21, Julisa Molina Rivera, age 31, Jose Jonathan Casarez, age 18, and Daniel Enrique Laso, age 8, were the victims. The FBI said they all appeared to be residents of the home, but they did not constitute a single family.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, mass shootings have become routine in the United States. At least 176 have occurred so far in 2023, which is the most at this stage of the year since at least 2016. A mass shooting, according to the non-profit organization, is one in which four or more persons are hurt or killed, excluding the gunman.