Francisco Oropesa, 38, has been arrested for killing five people, including a 9-year-old boy, with an AR-15 rifle in their Texas home. After a tip was called into an FBI line, authorities were led to Oropesa’s location in the city of Cut and Shoot, Texas, less than 20 miles from where the crimes occurred.
The arrest ended a four-day manhunt involving more than 250 law enforcement officers, the FBI, and an $80,000 reward for information. Oropesa will be charged with five counts of murder and is being held on a $5 million bond, according to NBC News.
The shootings occurred in Cleveland, Texas, after a member of the family asked Oropesa to stop firing his rifle because an infant was trying to sleep. When Wilson Garcia’s wife asked him to go to Oropesa’s residence and ask him to stop shooting, Oropesa replied by saying he was on his property and could do whatever he wants.
CNN reported the situation escalated when Oropesa insulted the family, and they informed him that they were calling the police. Officials have identified the victims as Daniel Enrique Laso, 9; Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25; Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; and Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18. Garcia’s son, Daniel, and wife, Guzman, were among the victims.
Although scent-tracking dogs lost Oropesa’s trail, authorities seized the rifle used in the attack, and the FBI said law enforcement officers were analyzing “hundreds of pieces of information from all over.” Oropesa was still armed with a handgun when he was arrested.
According to The Associated Press, the FBI reported that digital billboards in the Houston area showed Oropesa’s picture and the reward, and there had been plans to expand the billboards statewide.
Last year, Oropesa’s wife filed a protective order against him, alleging that he beat her. San Jacinto County District Attorney Todd Dillon said she claimed that he was drunk and hit her with a closed fist, kicked her on the floor, and threatened her.
Oropesa had been deported from the U.S. four times and was back in Texas illegally, according to Gov. Greg Abbott, who called the killings an “atrocious crime that devastated this community and this country.”
