Texas shooting: Suspect accused of killing 5 neighbors after request to stop firing rifle

A Mexican national is suspected of killing five neighbors in southeast Texas after one of them asked him to stop shooting his rifle late Friday, saying that a baby was trying to sleep.

The suspect in the execution-style killings is Francisco Oropeza, 39, a Mexican national, according to San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers.

Capers said during a Saturday afternoon press conference that Oropeza “could be anywhere now.” Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Houston Field Office said that Oropeza should be considered “armed and dangerous” and is a “threat to the community.”

The Texas Department of Corrections has sent a team with dogs, officers on horseback and a drone in the air to assist with Oropeza’s arrest, police said.

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Officials said the following individuals were killed in the shooting: Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25; Daniel Enrique Laso, 8; Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; and Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18.

Capers said during the press conference that law enforcement officers located some Oropeza’s clothing and tracking dogs picked up the scent, adding that the dogs lost the scent after they reached the water. Officers also located his cell phone.

He added that the search area is now up to 10 or 20 square miles.

Capers told Fox News Digital he is “praying” that the suspect will be in custody in the next two to four hours. 

He said this was the first mass shooting incident with more than three victims his office has ever dealt with. 

“Nobody should ever have to witness this,” Capers said. “Nobody should ever have to live through this.”  

Just before midnight, deputies with the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to respond to a call for “harassment” at the 100 block of Walters Road in the Trails End area of Cleveland, about 50 miles north of Houston. 

En route to the scene, the sheriff’s office received multiple 911 calls about an active shooter at the location. Upon arriving, officers discovered five people had been shot at the residence, police said. 

According to the sheriff, the suspect was a neighbor who had been firing an AR-15-style .223 caliber rifle in his yard before midnight. Police found shell casings in the yard. 

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“One of the victims came out of the house and said, hey, we have a small baby that’s trying to sleep,” Casper told KTRK. “And the man said, I’ll shoot out in my front yard, I do what I want to in my own residence.” 

Witnesses told investigators the gunman was drinking alcohol. 

What happened next is shocking. Police say the man walked up to the front door of his neighbor’s house and began firing. One victim was found by the doorway leading into the living room. Another victim was found dead in the living room. Two more women were found shot dead upstairs, their bodies shielding young children who survived and were taken to a hospital. 

Caspers said each victim had been shot in the head.

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When police arrived, four people were pronounced dead at the scene and an eight-year-old boy was airlifted in critical condition to a local trauma center, where he died, Capers said. 

A SWAT unit from neighboring Montgomery County arrived to assist and cleared several properties near to the crime scene. The shooter was determined to have fled the county. 

Three other victims were taken to the hospital “covered in blood,” according to the sheriff’s office. It was not clear if they were injured or if the blood belonged to the other victims. 

Capers said that the victims were from Honduras. He said a total of 10 people were living in the house. Of those killed, four were adults, one male and three females, while the youngest was just eight years old. The three other victims who were taken to the hospital were children. 

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Two other people inside the residence were evaluated at the scene and released, police said. 

“When we got here, the two females in the bedroom were actually laying over the top of the younger children, two of the three younger children” that survived, Capers said. 

The sheriff’s office is withholding the identities of the victims pending notification of next of kin, but says it has a copy of Oropeza’s consular identification card. 

Caspers said authorities confiscated a shotgun, two rifles, including the .223 caliber rifle, and a pistol from the victims’ residence. 

A judge issued a warrant for the suspect’s arrest and assigned a $5 million bond. 

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Texas Rangers are assisting with the ongoing investigation. Police are asking the public to avoid the area, as there is still a heavy police presence. 

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.