Sandy MaloneCleveland, TX – Authorities are searching for a man who opened fire inside his neighbors’ home on Friday night, killing five people, including a child, after they asked him to stop firing his gun because it was waking a baby.
The incident occurred on April 28 after Wilson Garcia and two other people walked over to the home of their neighbor, 38-year-old Francisco Oropesa, to ask him to stop firing his AR-15 style rifle into the air in front of his house, KVOA reported.
Garcia said he asked Oropesa to shoot his gun on the other side of his yard because the crack of the rifle was making the baby cry, but the neighbor refused.
Neighbors called 911 five times to report what was happening but by the time police arrived on the scene, it was too late, KVOA reported.
San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said that Oropesa had been drinking before the altercation.
Garcia told authorities that Oropesa came storming into his home and killed his wife, Sonia Argentina Guzman, in the doorway, KVOA.
Then he fatally shot three more adults and Garcia’s nine-year-old son, Daniel Enrique Laso-Guzman.
Garcia told KVOA that his son was trying to protect his mother when he was killed by the gunman.
This is 8-year-old Daniel Enrique Laso and his mother Sonia Argentina Guzman , they were both killed execution style by Francisco Oropesa in Cleveland , Texas. Oropesa is still on the run and is considered armed and dangerous. (Daniel’s father give me permission to post) pic.twitter.com/vOUHR4AVBP
— Jorge Ventura Media (@VenturaReport) April 30, 2023
He said he fled the house by jumping out a window after one of the other women who was murdered in the killing spree told him that his other children needed him.
“[She] saw when my wife fell to the ground and was dying, and she told me to throw myself out the window because my children were already without their mother,” Garcia told KVOA.
Sheriff Capers said responding deputies found the victims had been shot “almost execution-style” from the neck up.
A man who survived the #clevelandtexas shooting told me how he saw the gunman shoot his sister, nephew & other relatives & he pulled his wife & 6 mo old into a closet. He left Honduras 5 yrs ago to escape gang violence & found himself victim of America’s gun epidemic @nytimes pic.twitter.com/Eid72yj5LT
— Edgar Sandoval 🪐 (@edjsandoval) April 30, 2023
The other three adult victims have been identified as 21-year-old Diana Velázquez Alvarado, 31-year-old Julisa Molina Rivera, and 18-year-old José Jonathan Cásarez, KVOA reported.
Oropesa fled the scene before deputies arrived and a manhunt for the accused killer was launched immediately.
A source from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told FOX News that the suspect is a Mexican national who has previously been deported from the United States on at least five occasions.
Here are the newest images of Francisco Oropesa and a prominent tattoo on his left forearm.
Going forward, the subject's last name will be spelled "Oropesa" to better reflect his identity in law enforcement systems. This remains a fluid investigation. #ClevelandTXShooting pic.twitter.com/ZWUu0FqoMF
— FBI Houston (@FBIHouston) April 30, 2023
All of the victims were Hondurans who were in the United States illegally, too.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said on Sunday they have “no leads” as to the whereabouts of Oropesa, FOX News reported.
“We consider him armed and dangerous,” FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge James Smith told reporters on April 30. “He’s out there, and he’s a threat to the community.”
A collective reward of $80,000 is being offered to for information leading to Oropesa’s arrest, FOX News reported.
Sheriff Capers said authorities tracked the suspect’s cell phone and found it abandoned with some of his clothes, KVOA reported.
Tracking dogs were able to pick up a scene at that spot, but they later lost track of the suspect, according to the sheriff.
Authorities have posted information about the reward on billboards in English and Spanish and Agent Smith said they were hoping somebody will turn Oropesa in, KVOA reported.
“I can pretty much can guarantee you he’s contacted some of his friends,” he explained. “We just don’t know which friends they are, and that is what we need from the public is any type of information.”
Sheriff Capers said Oropesa’s wife was interviewed multiple times and remained in “constant contact” with investigators, KVOA reported.
The investigation is ongoing.
Holly Matkin
