Law enforcement officers searched for Francisco Oropesa, suspected of fatally shooting five people at a home in Cleveland, Texas early Saturday morning.
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Law enforcement officers searched for Francisco Oropesa, suspected of fatally shooting five people at a home in Cleveland, Texas early Saturday morning.
Going to Nakamura / Getty Images
Authorities in southeast Texas are offering an $80,000 reward for any advice that leads to the arrest of Francisco Oropesa, 38, who police say shot dead five people in a home early in the morning. Saturday and then fled the scene.
In one news conference on Sunday afternoon, law enforcement officials said they had no clue about Oropesa’s whereabouts but that more than 250 officers is working to track him down.
“We’re asking for everyone’s help so we can bring this suspect – or this monster, I’ll call him – to justice,” said Houston FBI special agent in charge James Smith.
Smith said investigators do not have any advice on Oropesa’s location and do not know if he is still in the area. “Right now we’re at a dead end,” he said.
San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said officers went door-to-door looking for the suspect, who officials noted has a prominent tattoo of what appears to be a woman on her left arm. (The authorities initially named him Oropeza, but said that spelling update better reflects “his identity in law enforcement systems.”)
Capers also said officials are creating oversized signs to notify local communities that Oropesa is wanted by police and that there will be rewards for information about where he is.
Here are the latest pictures of Francisco Oropesa and a striking tattoo on his left forearm.
The subject’s last name will later be spelled “Oropesa” to better reflect his identity in law enforcement systems. This is still a fluid investigation. #ClevelandTXTake a picture pic.twitter.com/ZWUu0FqoMF
– FBI Houston (@FBIHouston) April 30, 2023
Five people were killed in the shooting, including an 8-year-old boy. Capers said a vigil was scheduled for Sunday night for the boy, who has been identified as Daniel Enrique Laso Guzman.
“My heart goes out to this 8-year-old boy. I don’t care if he’s here legally. I don’t care if he’s here illegally. He’s in my county,” he said. Capers said. “Five people have died in my county, and that’s where my heart goes — in my county to protect my people to the best of our ability.”
The five victims were all from Honduras
On Saturday, the government identify 5 victims of the shooting as:
- Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25
- Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21
- Julisa Molina Rivera, 31 years old
- Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18
- Daniel Enrique Laso Guzman, 8 years old
Wilson Garcia, who owns the house where the shooting happened, tell ABC branch KTRK that he asked Oropesa to stop shooting guns in his front yard because Garcia’s baby was trying to sleep.
Josue, left, and Nathan Barcenas play outside their home on Sunday as authorities continue to investigate the neighborhood where the deadly shooting took place.
David J. Phillip/AP
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David J. Phillip/AP
Garcia said that’s when Oropesa went to his home and shot Garcia’s wife, Sonia Argentina Guzman, before entering the house and opening fire on others inside. Capers said 10 people were in the home at the time of the shooting.
“I never thought he would open fire. Then he went from room to room, looking for people,” Garcia told the broadcaster.
The shooting happened in Cleveland, a town of about 8,000 people about 45 miles northeast of Houston. Based on US Census DataCleveland is 60% white and 30% Hispanic or Latino.
All the victims originally from Honduras and Oropesa from Mexico, Capers said Saturday.
A GoFundMe page apparently set up by Wilson Garcia says it is raising money so it can send the bodies of his wife and son, 8-year-old Daniel, back to his native Honduras.
Ramiro Guzman, brother of Sonia Guzman, speak New York Times that he was hiding in a closet with his wife and 6-month-old son when the shooting took place. He said he had fled Honduras five years earlier to escape gang violence.
“We came here to escape the violence,” Guzman told the newspaper, “and found it in America.”
in one tweet translated from spanishHonduras Foreign Minister Enrique Reina expressed condolences to the victims of the shooting and said the consulate was closely monitoring the investigation.
Reina also urges the perpetrator or perpetrators to face the full weight of the law.
