Two days after the massacre of a family in Cleveland, Texas, the manhunt to arrest is widening Francisco Oropezathe 38-year-old of Mexican origin accused of killing Friday night with an Ar-15 semi-automatic rifle five neighbors, including an 8 year old, after one of them had asked him to stop shooting in the garden so as not to disturb. Residents of Cleveland, a town of 7,500 people about 60 km northeast of Houston, and the surrounding rural area were asked to remain alert and lock their doors to their homes. “Stay at home. Be vigilant. Keep an eye out. If you see something, report it,” is the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s plea, Greg Capers. “He could be anywhere and armed, this man is very dangerous,” he warned, even though investigators have already recovered the Ar-15 used in the massacre, along with the suspect’s abandoned cell phone and clothes. Other weapons were confiscated from his home. Hundreds of agents, including the FBI, trained dogs and drones are employed in the search for the ‘killer next door’. The Federal Bureau of Investigation released the man’s photo and launched an appeal. Meanwhile, the authorities have identified the victims, all from Honduras: Julisa Molina Rivera, 31, Sonia Argentina Guzman (25), Diana Velazquez Alvarado (21), Jose Jonathan Casarez (18) and Daniel Enrique Laso, only 8 years old. all hit in the head. Five other people who lived in the same house were saved, including three children, who were shielded by two women who lost their lives.
#WANTED Francisco Oropeza, 38. If you see him, please DO NOT approach him. He is considered armed and dangerous. If you have a tip related to the shooting or Oropeza’s whereabouts please call the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office at 936-653-4367. #ClevelandTXshooting pic.twitter.com/OWZvG2nLN4
— FBI Houston (@FBIHouston) April 30, 2023
It all happened in seconds on Friday night. “The neighbors came up to him and said ‘Hey man, can you avoid shooting, we have a kid trying to sleep,” the sheriff said. But the man dismissed the complaints, arguing that he had the right to do as he pleased on his property. So they went back but “Someone in the house recorded video of the suspect walking up their driveway with his Ar-15, and tensions escalated further“, until the tragedy, said Capers. Oropeza often shot in the backyard, as if it were a shooting range. Earlier she also threatened to kill a neighbor’s dog that was lost in the neighborhood. The authorities had gone to speak to him, but it is not clear whether they have taken legal action: shooting on one’s own property may be illegal, the sheriff admitted, but did not say whether Oropeza had previously broken the law.
The victims had moved a few days earlier from Houston to Cleveland to live in what they thought was a quiet country house, unaware that they were meeting their deaths. This is the 19th shooting in the US that left at least four dead (not including the killer) earlier this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.