Anurag Kumar
Sunday, law enforcement officers went door-to-door in a rural Texas town in quest of a gunman who killed five people and fled after his neighbors asked him to stop firing rounds in his yard.
Francisco Oropesa, 38, was believed to be armed and dangerous after departing the area on foot on Friday, San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said Saturday night. He stated that authorities had expanded the search area to 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the shooting site.
Capers stated that tracking canines lost the scent while searching a densely forested rural area that yielded clothing and a cell phone to investigators. The authorities were able to identify Oropesa using a Mexican identification card issued to citizens who reside outside the country and entryway camera footage. He stated that the suspect’s wife was also interviewed by police.
Sheriff stated that police recovered the AR-15-style rifle that Oropesa allegedly used in the shootings, but authorities were uncertain whether he was transporting any other weapons. He stated that there were additional weapons in the suspect’s residence.
“He could be anywhere now,” said Capers.
The assault occurred near the town of Cleveland, north of Houston, on a street where, according to some locals, gunfire is a common way for neighbors to unwind.
Sunday was a much more tranquil day. The crime scene tape had been removed from the residence of the victims. Some individuals stopped to leave flowers.
An FBI agent, multiple Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, and other officers were observed walking around the neighborhood and knocking on doors in an attempt to communicate with residents. The agent and officers refused to remark on their activities.
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A red truck towing a travel trailer passed through the neighborhood as the authorities were speaking with residents at one residence. One trooper halted the truck and asked the driver for permission to inspect the interior.
The driver consented and permitted the trooper to enter the vehicle. After examining the trailer, the trooper permitted the driver to continue driving.
Veronica Pineda, 34, who lives across the street from the suspect’s residence, reported that authorities requested permission to investigate her property in case he was hiding there.
“That’s a good thing,” the mother of five said, adding that she remained fearful because the shooter had not yet been apprehended.
“It is somewhat unnerving. You can never predict where he may be. She stated, “I don’t believe he will be here any longer.”
She stated that she did not know Oropesa well, but that she occasionally saw him, his wife, and his son riding their horses on the street. She estimates that the family has resided there for five or six years. Pineda stated that neighbors have previously contacted authorities to protest about gunfire.
Capers stated that the fatalities of Friday’s shooting ranged in age from 8 to 31, and all were believed to be from Honduras. All were fired “from the neck up,” according to him. A GoFundMe page was created in order to return the corpses of a mother and son to their native country.
Enrique Reina, the secretary of foreign affairs and international cooperation for Honduras, stated on Twitter that the Honduran Consulate in Houston was in contact with the families regarding the repatriation of remains, as well as with U.S. authorities to keep them informed of the investigation.
Authorities initially gave the suspect’s surname as Oropeza, but the FBI in Houston tweeted on Sunday that it was now using Oropesa to “better reflect his identity in law enforcement systems.” According to the FBI, the matter “remains a fluid investigation.”
The attack was the most recent instance of gun violence in what has been a record-setting year for mass shootings in the United States, some of which involved semiautomatic rifles.
Capers reported that there were ten people in the home, some of whom had just moved in earlier in the week, but no one was injured. According to him, two of the victims were discovered in a bedroom covering two children in an apparent effort to conceal them.
Capers stated that three children discovered covered in blood in the residence were taken to a hospital but were found to be unharmed.
Christina Garza, a spokesperson for the FBI, stated that investigators do not believe those at the residence to be members of a single family. Sonia Argentina Guzman, age 25, Diana Velazquez Alvarado, age 21, Julisa Molina Rivera, age 31, Jose Jonathan Casarez, age 18, and Daniel Enrique Laso, age 8, were identified as the victims.
Capers stated that the confrontation occurred after residents approached a fence and asked the suspect to cease firing rounds. According to him, the suspect replied that it was his property. The doorbell camera captured him carrying a rifle as he approached the front entrance.
The shooting occurred on a rural street riddled with potholes, where single-story homes nestle on 1-acre lots and are surrounded by a dense forest canopy. Behind the residence of the victims was a horse, while in the front yard of Oropesa’s home were a dog and chickens.
Rene Arevalo Sr., who resides a few houses away, reported hearing gunshots at midnight, but he didn’t think much of it.
“It’s a common practice in this area, particularly on Fridays after work,” Arevalo said. “People go home, drink in their backyards, and shoot outside.”
