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Arrest Of Texas Shooting Suspect After Four-day Manhunt Prompts Response From Governor Abbott And Lawmakers

Arrest of Texas shooting suspect after four-day manhunt prompts response from Governor Abbott and lawmakers. On Tuesday, officials reported the arrest of Francisco Oropesa, a man accused of using an AR-15 rifle to kill five of his neighbors in Texas, including a 9-year-old boy.

Hilda Workman
May 04, 202339 Shares540 Views
Arrest of Texas shooting suspect after four-day manhunt prompts response from Governor Abbott and lawmakers. On Tuesday, officials reported the arrest of Francisco Oropesa, a man accused of using an AR-15 rifle to kill five of his neighbors in Texas, including a 9-year-old boy. The arrest took place in Cut and Shoot, less than 20 miles away from where the murders occurred, after a tip was received and reported to the FBI.

Texas Shooting Suspect Francisco Oropesa Arrested After Four-Day Manhunt

The manhunt for Oropesa had been ongoing for four days prior to his capture. During a press conference, Jimmy Paul, the assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s Houston field office, expressed gratitude towards the person who provided the tip, stating, "We just want to thank the person who had the courage and bravery to call in the suspect’s location."
Officials stated that the murders occurred after a member of the family requested Oropesa to cease firing his weapon, as an infant was attempting to sleep. San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers announced that Oropesa will be charged with five counts of murder and is being held on a $5 million bond.
Describing Oropesa as a coward, Capers stated that he was caught hiding in a closet beneath laundry. Although details regarding the location of his capture were not disclosed, the case remains under investigation.
Footage capturing the events of the arrest depicted Oropesa being led away in handcuffs from a residence, before being seated in the passenger side of a vehicle. The arrest concluded a widespread search, which included more than 250 law enforcement officers, the FBI, and an $80,000 reward for information.
The shooting occurred four days prior when Oropesa opened fire at his neighbor's home in Cleveland's Trails End area, roughly 45 miles north of Houston, after a person complained that gunfire from his adjacent property was keeping an infant from sleeping. Wilson Garcia has revealed that his wife asked him to visit Francisco Oropesa's home and request that he stop shooting or relocate elsewhere.
Garcia believed the request to be reasonable as they had previously been on good terms with Oropesa. However, Oropesa refused to comply, claiming that he could do whatever he pleased on his property.
Garcia then requested that Oropesa move further away or lower the volume, but Oropesa began to insult them, prompting Garcia to inform him that they would contact the police. The five victims, all from Honduras, were identified as Daniel Enrique Laso (9), Sonia Argentina Guzman (25), Diana Velazquez Alvarado (21), Julisa Molina Rivera (31), and Jose Jonathan Casarez (18). Garcia confirmed that Daniel was his son, and Guzman was his wife and the child's mother.
According to officials, the four adult victims were pronounced dead at the crime scene, while Daniel passed away at a hospital. Three other children were discovered inside the home, and they may have been saved by two women who covered them with their bodies during the attack.
An undated photo released by the FBI showing Francisco Oropeza
An undated photo released by the FBI showing Francisco Oropeza
San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers disclosed that he believes around 15 rounds were fired during the shooting. Cut and Shoot, the location where Oropesa was apprehended on Tuesday, is a small community of roughly 1,000 people located east of Conroe and approximately 16 miles west of Cleveland.
Authorities had faced difficulties in their investigation, with "zero leads" on Sunday. The FBI stated on Tuesday that law enforcement officials were analyzing "hundreds of pieces of information" from various sources, and digital billboards displaying Oropesa's image and the reward were placed throughout the Houston area, with plans to expand statewide.
It is currently unknown how Oropesa managed to evade capture for several days, despite investigators finding his cellphone and some of his clothing on Saturday. Capers reported that the rifle used in the attack had been confiscated, but Oropesa may have still been carrying a handgun.
After the arrest, several Texas lawmakers took to Twitter to praise the law enforcement task force. The team, including U.S. Marshals, Texas Department of Public Safety, and the U.S. Border Patrol's BORTAC team, apprehended Oropesa without incident on Tuesday evening.
Oropesa was found hiding in a closet under a pile of laundry before being taken into custody. Texas Governor Greg Abbott commended the law enforcement officers for their great job. Senator Ted Cruz referred to the suspect as a "mass murdering illegal alien" and said that he deserved the death penalty.
According to the U.S. senator's statement:
Thank you to the brave men and women of law enforcement who worked tirelessly to apprehend this mass murdering illegal alien who killed 5 innocent people. The victims deserve justice. And this monster when convicted deserves the death penalty.- Senator Ted Cruz
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, also responded. "Grateful to learn that Francisco Oropesa has been apprehended by law enforcement in Texas," he wrote in a tweet. "Justice will be served for the victims of this unthinkable murder."
In a tweet, Congressman Crenshaw expressed his confidence in law enforcement officers to locate Oropesa and bring him to trial for his alleged crimes. CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller also commended the efforts of the law enforcement personnel involved in the search and arrest of Oropesa.
According to Miller:
I am incredibly proud of the members of our U.S. Customs and Border Protection workforce who, together with partners at the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office, apprehended the suspect of Friday’s brutal murders in Texas.- CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller

Conclusion

Assisted by over 225 law enforcement officers, search efforts for Oropesa were carried out over several days in various locations, including Wyoming, Florida, South Texas, North Texas, Oklahoma, and Maryland. The suspect was eventually found after a tip was submitted to the FBI tipline.
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