Five people were killed in an execution-style shooting at a Texas home late Friday night. The suspect was armed with an AR-15 style rifle, according to officials from San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office.
The attack happened just before midnight Friday in the 100 block of Walters Road near the small town of Cleveland, north of Houston.
Police have identified the man accused of killing the five people, including an 8-year-old child, as Francisco Oropeza, a 38-year-old Mexican national.
Police say Oropeza was intoxicated and began shooting an AR-15 outside on his front porch, when a neighbor confronted Oropeza over the fence and asked him to stop shooting because his baby couldn’t sleep.
Oropeza reportedly responded by saying that it was “his property” and went to the neighbors’ house with a rifle and began shooting.
San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers told Eyewitness News that all five victims were shot from the neck up, “almost execution style.”
Oropeza remains at large as of Sunday morning, more than 24 hours later, and “could be anywhere” by now, according to the Sheriff Capers.
From Fox News:
The Mexican national wanted in the execution-style shooting of five of his neighbors in Texas remained at large more than 24 hours later Sunday morning and “could be anywhere” by now.
FBI Houston tweeted Sunday morning that the multi-agency search for suspect Francisco Oropeza, 38 continues. “Reminder, if you see him DO NOT approach him. He is armed and dangerous. If you have a tip about his whereabouts call the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office at 936-653-4367,” the tweet read.
Oropeza is accused of shooting and killing five neighbors, including an 8-year-old child, in the 100 block of Walters Road in the Trails End area of Cleveland, Texas.
“He could be anywhere now,” Capers said, explaining how investigators have widened their perimeter from about 5 or 6 square miles to “as much as 10 or 20 depending on whether or not he crossed the highline wire.” Authorities found an abandoned cell phone and articles of clothing lying around, and tracking dogs from the Texas Department of Correction “picked up a scent and then … lost that scent in the water,” according to the sheriff.
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“The FBI has brought in investigative resources, tactical and victim services resources to assist in this investigation. We will be here until we are no longer needed to include when the subject is arrested,” James Smith, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Houston Field Office, told reporters Saturday night. “We’re still out there trying to find this individual. We consider him armed and dangerous. And we’re not going to stop until we actually arrest him and bring him into custody. But he is out there, and he is a threat to the community.”
“So I don’t want anyone to think something different than that. He is a threat to the community, and we need the community’s help to hopefully locate him and soon and take him off the streets tonight. But however, I will say this, we do not ask the community to take the matters into their own hands. Please call 911 if you happen to see this individual out there.”
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Night shift patrol deputies had been initially dispatched to the residence in reference to a harassment complaint. While en route, the communications center received multiple 911 calls of an active shooter incident at the dispatched location. Multiple deputies arrived at the residence and located four people deceased at the home.
The eight-year-old child was airlifted to the hospital, where he was declared deceased. The victims are reportedly said to have been from Honduras.
The Houston FBI urged the community not to take matters into their own hands, and to call 911 if they see Oropeza, who is considered “armed and dangerous”:
