Last update: April 30, 2023, 09:57 IST
San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers speaks to investigators at the scene where five people were fatally shot the previous night, Saturday, April 29, 2023, in unincorporated San Jacinto County, Na. Texas. (Credits: Associated Press)
Police are using dogs and a drone to track down the suspect, who is believed to be hiding in a nearby forest
A Texas man is free after shooting dead five people, including an 8-year-old boy, during a Friday night rampage that began with a noise complaint about gunfire.
The suspect, identified as 38-year-old Francisco Oropeza, remained at large for more than 18 hours after the shooting and authorities have warned he may still be armed.
The incident happened midnight Friday in Cleveland, north of Houston, when neighbors asked the suspect to stop shooting in his yard because a baby was trying to sleep. The suspect then entered the neighbor’s house and began shooting.
Here’s everything you need to know about the shoot:
- A total of 10 people were at the scene at the time of the shooting. The adults were pronounced dead at the scene while an eight-year-old child died in hospital.
- Several people were shot around the residence, San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said. Two female victims, who died in the shooting, used their bodies to protect two young children who survived. Later, the two victims were found in a bedroom, lying on top of two children, who were uninjured.
- A total of three children found covered in blood in the house were taken to hospital but were not injured, police said.
- The victims were shot above the neck at point-blank range – “almost execution-style”, according to police.
- The shooter allegedly used an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. Police are using dogs and a drone to track down the suspect, who is believed to be hiding in a nearby forest.
- I thought authorities tracked suspect Francisco Oropeza’s cell phone, but they found it abandoned, along with his clothes. A local court has issued an arrest warrant for the suspect and posted $5 million bond.
- FBI spokeswoman Christina Garza said investigators don’t believe everyone at the home is a single family member. The victims were identified as Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25; Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julia Molina Rivera, 31; Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18; and Daniel Enrique Laso, 8.
- There have been at least 18 shootings across the United States since Jan. 1 that have left four or more people dead, according to the Associated Press database.
- Additionally, there have been at least 174 mass shootings in the United States this year, where four or more people were injured or killed, according to CNN.
- Texas has faced several mass shootings in recent years, including last year’s attack on Robb Elementary School in Uvalde; a racist attack at an El Paso Walmart in 2019; and a gunman opened fire on a church in the small town of Sutherland Springs in 2017.
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