Police still searching for Texas man accused of killing 5 neighbours

CLEVELAND, Texas – Over 200 law enforcement officers in Texas on Sunday searched for a man accused of shooting to death five neighbours after being asked to stop firing a semi-automatic rifle.

Francisco Oropesa, 38, is accused of opening fire on his neighbours after being asked to stop shooting an AR-15-style rifle late last Friday because it was keeping a baby awake. The victims include an eight-year-old boy.

“Right now, we have zero leads,” FBI Houston special agent in charge James Smith told reporters on Sunday.

San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said more than 200 law enforcement personnel were going door-to-door looking for the suspect or any tips on how to find him. Officials are offering an US$80,000 (S$107,000) reward for information that will lead to the suspect’s apprehension.

Oropesa is originally from Mexico. His name had been spelled “Oropeza” in early communications from law enforcement but was changed “to better reflect his identity in law enforcement systems”, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Sunday. It gave no further details.

Police received a call from the home in Cleveland, about 72km north of Houston, late on Friday night.

Mr Capers said the suspect had stepped out of his house that night and started shooting off rounds in his yard, which is when some of the victims stepped out to ask him to stop. Oropesa was told that there was a baby trying to sleep in the house.

Both parties then went back to their houses. Oropesa “topped off his magazine and walked down his driveway” onto the street, then “into the people’s house and started shooting”, Mr Capers said.

He also said most of the victims were shot in the head, “almost execution-style”. Police said all five dead were from Honduras.

Police had been called to the suspect’s house on previous occasions over complaints about noise from gunfire in his yard, Mr Capers said.

The victims were identified as Ms Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25; Ms Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Ms Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; Mr Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18; and Daniel Enrique Laso, eight. They were all believed to be living in the house, but were not part of a single family, the FBI said.

Mass shootings have become commonplace in the United States, with at least 176 so far in 2023, the most at this point in the year since at least 2016, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The non-profit group defines a mass shooting as any in which four or more people are wounded or killed, not including the shooter. REUTERS