CLEVELAND, Texas — Loud, rapid explosions from a gun woke Wilson Garcia’s son up Friday night, so he asked the neighbor who was shooting if he could stop.
Authorities said the neighbor, Francisco Oropeza, 38, who had been drinking, said no. His yard, he said, his rules.
Mr. Garcia warned that he would call the police. But after Mr. Oropeza returned home, he reappeared with a gun.
He walked towards Mr. Garcia’s cream-colored house, where he shot Mr. Garcia’s wife, Sonia Guzman Taibo, who was standing near the entrance and had called the police.
The fury continued inside Mr Garcia’s home, where authorities said Mr Oropeza had shot dead four others, including a 15-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy, “almost in an execution style”. .
“He wanted to kill us all so he wouldn’t leave any evidence behind,” Garcia said.
The incident in Cleveland, Texas, about 45 miles northeast of Houston, stunned a nation already tired of mass shootings that appear to be caused by mixing and interacting. trivial, such as a neighbor’s complaint.
This month, A 16-year-old Missouri boy rang the wrong doorbell was shot by a landlord, a 20-year-old woman in upstate New York was shot dead after driving on the wrong road and two cheerleaders in Texas were shot after one got into the wrong car.
Friday night’s shooting prompted an extensive search for the gunman, who may have fled the area and remained free until Saturday night.
Three other people were taken to hospital after the shooting, which happened around 11:30 p.m. Their status was not immediately known. Officials said all of the victims were from Honduras.
The San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office said four people were pronounced dead at the scene and a fifth died at a hospital.
Two of the victims were women. A man, a 15-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy were also killed. The identities of the victims have not yet been made public.
San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said in a phone interview Saturday several law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, were walking searches of homes and wooded areas. mortar and use drones to find Mr. Oropeza.
He said investigators believe Oropeza was drinking and opened fire in the yard when the victims walked up to him asking him to stop.
“He said, ‘I’m going to do what I want in my front yard,'” Sheriff Capers told reporters earlier on Saturday.
Sheriff told reporters Oropeza is known to “regularly” fire an AR-15 in his front yard. Officials said Oropeza fired a semi-automatic weapon, but it was unclear exactly what type of gun was used in Friday night’s attack.
Mr Garcia, who moved to the US from Honduras three years ago, said he had “never had a problem” with Mr Oropeza, who once helped Mr Garcia cut a tree.
Mr. Garcia said that after Oropeza shot his wife, the gunman chased him. Mr. Garcia escaped through the window and ran outside.
“I thought he was going to follow me,” he said. “But after he failed to catch me, he returned to the house to finish them off.”
Mr. Garcia said he went to a family member’s home to hide. When he returned home, he found his two children hidden in a cupboard.
According to Carlos Ramirez, Garcia’s brother, the two dead women were sheltering an 18-month-old boy and a 3-year-old girl, who were lucky to survive.
“They are hugging them,” Mr. Garcia said.
Robert Freyer, assistant first district attorney with the criminal district attorney’s office in San Jacinto County, said there were 10 people in the home, though Mr. Ramirez said there were 12.
“All of the people who were shot were shot from the neck up, almost execution-style,” said Chief Capers.
Enrique Reina, Honduran foreign minister, said on Twitter that the consulate of Honduras has contacted authorities in Texas and is monitoring the situation.
He wrote in Spanish: “We demand that the full weight of the law be applied to those responsible for this crime.
Susan Ard, a spokeswoman for the Cleveland Independent School District, said Saturday that the district was aware of one victim, a third-grade boy, who attended Northside Elementary School.
The district is “deeply saddened to learn of the news regarding the death of one of our students,” she said, adding that the boy’s name has not been released. “All our prayers and thoughts go out to the families and communities affected by this terrible tragedy.”
In the rural community of mostly Latino families, neighbors on Saturday said gunfire in the area was a regular occurrence.
Veronica Pineda, 34, said: ‘There’s always gunfire here. “For us, this is normal.”
Ms. Pineda said she doesn’t know Mr. Oropeza and his family but they have lived in the neighborhood for about 5 years. She occasionally saw Mr. Oropeza riding his horse in the street.
“He would go for walks with his horse and he would always look calm,” Ms. Pineda said, adding that Mr Oropeza and his family are known for hosting parties late into the night. .
Guadalupe Calderon, 47, who lives in the neighborhood, says that “shooting a few bullets on their property doesn’t mean they’re criminals.”
“This could happen anywhere,” Calderon said, adding that people in the community were surprised by the shooting. “We are all neighbors here, and we must take care of each other. Only God knows why he did it. Maybe they just don’t get along.”
Neelam Bohra And Euan ward contribution report.
