Shillong, May 1: More than 200 law enforcement personnel in Texas looked for a man who is suspected of killing five neighbours with a semiautomatic rifle after being urged to halt in Cleveland, Texas.
After being told to stop using an AR-15-style weapon late on Friday because it was keeping a baby awake, Francisco Oropesa, 38, is accused of opening fire on neighbours. One of the casualties is a boy, age 8.
James Smith, the FBI’s special agent in charge in Houston, told reporters on Sunday that there are currently no leads.
Greg Capers, the sheriff for San Jacinto County, announced that over 200 officers were searching homes door to door for the suspect or any leads. An $80,000 reward is being offered by the authorities for information that will result in the suspect’s capture.
At 11:31 p.m. on Friday, authorities received a call from a residence in Cleveland, which is located roughly 45 miles (72 km) north of Houston.
Capers claimed on Saturday that the suspect entered his yard on Friday night and began firing shots, at which point some of the victims came outside to tell him to stop.
The man approached the barrier and announced, “Hey, we’re trying to keep the baby asleep in here,” according to Capers.
Then, both parties returned to their homes. Oropesa “topped off his magazine and walked down his driveway” onto the street, then “into the people’s house and started shooting,” Capers claimed.
According to Capers, the majority of the victims had their heads shot “almost execution-style.” All five, according to the police, are Hondurans.
According to Capers, the suspect’s home has received calls from neighbours before concerning noise coming from gunfire in his yard.
Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25, Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21, Julisa Molina Rivera, 31, Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18, and Daniel Enrique Laso, 8, were the victims. The FBI said they all appeared to be residents of the home, but they did not constitute a single family.