Man suspected of killing 5 neighbours arrested after days-long manhunt in Texas

Authorities near Houston say they have caught a man suspected of killing five of his neighbours, including a nine-year-old boy, with an AR-style rifle after the family confronted him late at night about firing rounds in his yard.

Francisco Oropesa, 38, was arrested Tuesday, four days after the shooting late Friday in the town of Cleveland, Texas, about 70 kilometres north of Houston, San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said during a news briefing Tuesday night. He said Oropesa was found hiding in the closet of a home, under a pile of laundry, after investigators acted on a tip.

The capture happened near Conroe, which is roughly 30 kilometres from the home authorities say Oropesa fled after shooting his neighbours and setting off a widening manhunt that had grown to more than 250 law enforcement officers from multiple jurisdictions and agencies, including the U.S. Marshals

Montgomery County Sheriff Rand Henderson said Oropesa was was arrested without incident.

“They can rest easy now, because he is behind bars,” Capers said of the families of the victims. “He will live out his life behind bars for killing those five.”

Police had used drones and scent-tracking dogs during the search, which included combing a heavily wooded forest not far from the scene.

Manhunt underway after Texas mass shooting

U.S. authorities are searching for a man in east Texas suspected of killing five of his neighbours Friday night, including an eight-year-old boy. Police believe the suspect killed them after he was asked to stop firing his AR-15 style rifle in his yard because a baby was sleeping.

The tip that finally ended the chase came at 5:15 p.m. local time, and a little more than an hour later, Oropesa was in custody, said FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul.

Connor Hagan, an FBI spokesman, said they would not disclose the identity of the person who called in the tip — one of more than 200 tips he says investigators received. Authorities did not say who owned the house, whether Oropesa knew them or if anyone else was inside when he was found.

Friday’s shooting occurred after the suspect’s neighbours asked him to stop firing off rounds in his yard late at night because a baby was trying to sleep.

At a Sunday vigil in Cleveland, Wilson Garcia, that child’s father described the terrifying efforts inside his home by friends and family that night to escape, hide and shield themselves and children after a gunman walked up to the home and began firing, killing his wife first at the front door.

The victims were identified as Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18; Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25; and Daniel Enrique Laso, 9.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who faced backlash over drawing attention to the victims’ immigration status, had offered a $50,000 US reward over the weekend for any tips that might lead to the gunman. The three-term governor had described all the victims as “illegal immigrants” — a potentially false statement that his office walked back and apologized for Monday.

Oropesa is a Mexican national who has been deported four times, according to U.S. immigration officials — in March 2009, September 2009, January 2012 and July 2016.

 

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