Shooting — Gun violence across the United States continues to pile up as Texas becomes another site of a violent shooting.
Cleveland, Texas, went through another tragedy last weekend as a gunman shot and killed five people, including a nine-year-old child.
Now, more than 200 officers from various law enforcement agencies are on a manhunt to capture the perpetrator.
Investigations
Officers are going door to door, asking for information from community members about the shooter’s whereabouts.
On Sunday afternoon, San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said authorities are making billboards in Spanish to alert everyone of the search.
During the Sunday news conference, FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge James Smith announced there is a collective $80,000 reward offered for information leading to the suspect’s arrest.
38-year-old Francisco Oropesa is accused of killing four adults and a child at a neighboring home on Friday night.
Investigators initially tracked Oropesa through his cellphone, but the trail went cold on Saturday evening.
“We don’t have any tips right now to where he may be and that’s why we’ve come up with this reward, so that hopefully somebody out there can call us,” said Smith.
“I can pretty much guarantee you, he’s contacted some of his friends.”
“We just don’t know what friends they are and that’s what we need from the public, is any type of information because right now we’re running into dead ends.”
The massacre
Authorities said they were focused on capturing the suspect to bring closure and justice to the five victims.
On Saturday, the sheriff described how the shooting unfolded.
“The victims, they came over to the fence said, ‘Hey, could you mind not shooting out in the yard. We have a baby that is trying to sleep,'” said Capers.
The suspect had been drinking and responded, “I’ll do what I want to in my front yard.”
According to Capers, a doorbell camera at the victims’ home showed the suspect approaching with his rifle.
The home became the scene of a massacre as multiple people were found dead in different rooms.
The victims include:
- Daniel Enrique Laso-Guzman, 9
- José Jonathan Cásarez, 18
- Diana Velázquez Alvarado, 21
- Sonia Argentina Gúzman, 25
- Julisa Molina Rivera, 31
Capers said five other people were at home during the rampage, but they were unharmed.
Three children were found covered in blood but were uninjured and later taken to the hospital.
According to authorities, they believe two women died as they shielded the children who survived.
“The three children… were covered in blood from the same ladies that were laying on top of them trying to protect them,” the sheriff said.
The children are now safe and staying with family.
Authorities initially reported the boy was 8, but his father, Wilson Garcia, confirmed he turned 9 in January.
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Details of the shooting
Garcia said they called 911 five times on Friday night to report the suspect’s shooting.
Sheriff Capers said on Sunday that authorities arrived at the scene as fast as possible, but a small force is covering a broad county.
The site of the shooting is over 15 minutes outside of town.
According to Garcia, he and two other men walked to Oropesa to ask him to stop shooting close to their home as their baby was sleeping.
He said they asked the culprit to shoot on the other side of his property.
Around 10 to 20 minutes later, Oropesa returned, walked up to the house, and started shooting.
As she approached the front door, Garcia’s wife, Sonia Argentina Gúzman, was the first victim.
Garcia jumped out of a window and ran, saying another woman told him to survive as his children didn’t have a mother and they would need him.
Zero leads
The sheriff said authorities had received calls about Oropesa allegedly shooting his rifle in the front yard in the past.
Law enforcement initially spelled the shooter’s name as “Oropeza” before the FBI changed it to “Oropesa” to reflect his identity in law enforcement systems.
The FBI also shared that he was listed in various databases with the two spellings.
Francisco Oropesa was known to shoot a .223 rifle, and shell casings were found outside the home after the shooting.
According to the sheriff, authorities found at least three weapons in his home and spoke to his wife.
Oropesa’s cell phone was later abandoned with several pieces of clothing.
“The tracking dogs from Texas Department of Corrections picked up the scent, and then they lost that scent,” said Capers.
According to authorities, they are unsure if the suspect is still in the area.
“If anybody, whether you are here in this county, or this state of Texas or around the country, have any tips, we’re asking you to please call,” said Smith and the FBI.
“Right now, we have zero leads.”
According to the Gun Violence Archive, the United States has witnessed over 184 mass shootings in the first four months of 2023.
