Authorities near Houston say they have caught a man suspected of killing five of his neighbours, including a nine-year-old boy, with an AR-style rifle after the family confronted him late at night about firing rounds in his yard.
Francisco Oropesa, 38, was arrested Tuesday, four days after the shooting late Friday in the town of Cleveland, Texas, about 70 kilometres north of Houston, according to Montgomery County Sheriff Rand Henderson.
Oropesa was was arrested without incident, Henderson said. The sheriff would not say whether Oropesa was armed or how authorities figured out where he was.
Police had used drones and scent-tracking dogs during the search, which included combing a heavily wooded forest not far from the scene.
San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said Oropesa had fled the scene after the attack. He said his deputies had been called to the suspect’s house at least one other time previously over shooting rounds in his yard.
U.S. authorities are searching for a man in east Texas suspected of killing five of his neighbours Friday night, including an eight-year-old boy. Police believe the suspect killed them after he was asked to stop firing his AR-15 style rifle in his yard because a baby was sleeping.
Friday’s shooting occurred after the suspect’s neighbours asked him to stop firing off rounds in his yard late at night because a baby was trying to sleep.
At a Sunday vigil in Cleveland, Wilson Garcia, that child’s father described the terrifying efforts inside his home by friends and family that night to escape, hide and shield themselves and children after a gunman walked up to the home and began firing, killing his wife first at the front door.
The victims were identified as Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18; Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25; and Daniel Enrique Laso, 9.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who faced backlash over drawing attention to the victims’ immigration status, had offered a $50,000 US reward over the weekend for any tips that might lead to the gunman. The three-term governor had described all the victims as “illegal immigrants” — a potentially false statement that his office walked back and apologized for Monday.
More than 250 law enforcement officers from multiple agencies, including the U.S. Marshals, were part of the search.
Oropesa is a Mexican national who has been deported four times, according to U.S. immigration officials — in March 2009, September 2009, January 2012 and July 2016.
More Stories
Fair share: the right office solution can take finding the right partner
Ontario faces crew shortages, aircraft issues in fight against wildfires | Globalnews.ca
Refugee attends open house at Downtown Eastside affordable housing facility – BC | Globalnews.ca