Texas man accused of killing neighbors is still evading officials
A sweeping search for a Texas man accused of fatally shooting five neighbors with an AR-15-style weapon continued Monday after more than 250 officials from local, state and federal agencies failed to arrest him over the weekend.
The suspect, whom federal and local authorities have identified as either Francisco Oropeza or Oropesa, fled Friday night after allegedly killing his neighbors in response to a request that he stop shooting in his yard while their baby was trying to sleep. On Sunday afternoon, officials said they had lost his trail.
“We’re running into dead ends,” James Smith, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Houston field office, told reporters Sunday. “We have zero leads to him.”
A spokeswoman for Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Renae Eze, expressed condolences Sunday to the victims’ loved ones and said the governor’s office was working with the state’s Department of Public Safety and other state and local officials to ensure that appropriate resources are devoted to the search. Abbott, the FBI and other agencies are collectively offering an $80,000 reward for information leading to the suspect’s arrest.
Officials in Cleveland, Tex., said Saturday that they believed the suspect, 38, was about two miles away - but search dogs later lost his scent, and Smith said he “could be anywhere.” Although law enforcement officers said they found the weapon allegedly used in the shooting, they said the suspect may have another gun, and they are acting as if he is armed.
The manhunt, about 45 miles northeast of downtown Houston, has upended the small city as residents express fear at the realization that anyone could be attacked after an otherwise banal interaction with a neighbor. Friday’s shooting was among several high-profile incidents nationwide last month in which an armed person shot others during an otherwise unremarkable encounter.
The FBI has encountered setbacks in the manhunt: On Sunday, Smith acknowledged that the agency’s Houston office had released an incorrect image of the suspect as the FBI received information “from a whole slew of agencies.”
“We acted quickly to remove that photo,” Smith told reporters. “We’re 100 percent confident we now have the right photo out there.”
A Fort Worth man and his family told Dallas-based TV station Fox 4 News that he was the person depicted in the incorrect photo of the suspect and that he has since received death threats.
The true suspect is charged with five counts of murder in the killings of four adults and a child, according to San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers. The incident occurred Friday about 11 p.m., when the neighbors asked a man to stop firing his weapon in his yard. In response, he allegedly brought the gun inside the neighbors’ home and killed several of the people inside.
The victims have been identified as Sonia Argentina Guzmán, 25; Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18; and Daniel Enrique Laso, 9. (Authorities initially identified Laso as 8, but family members told the Washington Post that he had recently turned 9.) All were from Honduras, officials said.
At a vigil Sunday, community members said farewell to Daniel, whom his aunt described as passionate about sports, always smiling and quick to help his mother with his younger siblings. His mother, Sonia Guzmán, was among those killed.
“He was the most beloved kid ever,” Lucía Guzmán, Daniel’s aunt, said in Spanish. “And his heart knew no bounds.”