The hunt is expanding for A Texas gunman shot and killed five neighbors It continued to appear empty Sunday as officers knocked on doors, the governor put up a $50,000 reward and the FBI seemed no closer to catching the killer after nearly two days of searching with a team that grew to hundreds of people.
“I can tell you right now, we don’t have any leads,” James Smith, the FBI special agent in charge, told reporters as he again asked the audience for advice in the rural town of Cleveland, where the shooting took place just before midnight Friday.
The search for the gunman near Houston grew widespread: By Sunday evening, authorities said, more than 200 cops from multiple jurisdictions were searching for Francisco Oropeza, many of them going door-to-door hoping to obtain any clues that would lead to a conviction. 38- A year-old suspect. Local officials and the FBI also cut reward money, bringing the total to $80,000 for any information on Oropeza’s whereabouts.
Oropza is considered armed and dangerous after fleeing the area Friday night, most likely on foot. San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said authorities expanded the search area beyond the site of the shooting, which occurred after the suspect’s neighbors told him to stop shooting gunfire in his yard late at night because an infant was trying to sleep.
At a vigil Sunday in Cleveland, Wilson Garcia, father of a one-month-old baby, described terrifying efforts inside his home by friends and family that night to run away, hide and protect themselves and the children after Oropeza walked into the house and started shooting, killing his wife. First at the front door.
Another child of García’s, 9-year-old Daniel Enrique Laso, was also killed. Garcia said he and two other people “respectfully” went to ask Oropeza to shoot his gun away from the house on a street where residents say it’s not uncommon for neighbors to relax by shooting at them.
Garcia said he walked away and called the police when Oropeza refused. 10 to 20 minutes later when he says he saw Oropeza picking up his AR rifle he ran toward the house.
‘I said to my wife, ‘Go in.’ ‘This man has his gun,’ said Garcia. ‘My wife told me to go inside because he wouldn’t shoot me. I’m a woman.'”
Authorities said at least five other people who were in the house at the time were unharmed.
Within the first hours of the search, detectives found clothing and a phone while combing an area with thick layers of woodland, Capers said, but tracking dogs lost their scent.
Authorities were able to identify Oropeza through an identification card issued by Mexican authorities to citizens residing outside the country, as well as doorbell camera footage. He said that the police interviewed the suspect’s wife several times.
Police found an AR-15 rifle that they said Oropeza used in the shooting. Authorities were unsure if Oropeza had another weapon after others were found in his home.
Capers said he hopes the reward money will motivate people to come forward with information and that there are plans to put up billboards in Spanish to spread the word.
“We’re looking for closure for this family,” Capers said.
By Sunday, police tape of the crime scene had been removed from around the victims’ home, where some people had stopped to leave flowers.
In the neighborhood, an FBI agent, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, and other officers were seen going door-to-door, and one of the troopers stopped a red van and told them to look inside before letting the driver continue on his way.
Veronica Pineda, 34, who lives across from the suspect’s house, said authorities asked if they could search his property to see if he was hiding there. She said she was afraid the gunman had not yet been arrested.
“It’s kind of scary,” she said. “You never know where it could be.”
Pineda said that she did not know Oropeza well but that she occasionally saw him with his wife and son riding their horses in the street. She said the family had lived there for about five or six years and that neighbors had called the authorities in the past to complain about people shooting.
The victims ranged in age from 9 to 31 and are all believed to have been shot from the neck upwards, according to authorities. All are believed to be from Honduras.
Enrique Reyna, Honduras’ Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said on Twitter that the Honduran Consulate in Houston was contacting the families regarding the return of the remains, as well as US authorities to stay abreast of the investigation.
The Houston FBI said in a tweet Sunday that it was referring to the suspect as Oropesa, not Oropeza, “to better reflect his identity in law enforcement systems.” His family lists the name Oropeza on a sign outside their yard, as well as in public records. Authorities also said earlier that Garcia’s son is 8, but the father and school officials said on Sunday that the third-grade child is 9.
Capers said that a total of three children who were found covered in blood in the house were taken to hospital but were found to be uninjured. He said they were staying with family members.
FBI spokeswoman Christina Garza said investigators do not believe the people in the house were members of the same family. In addition to the young boy, the other victims have been identified as Sonia Argentina Guzmán, 25; Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; and Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18.
Garcia said they called the police five times between the time they asked Oropeza to shoot further and when the gunman entered their home. Capers said the police got there as quickly as they could and that he had three officers covering 700 square miles (1,800 square kilometers).
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Associated Press writer Susan Hay in Norwich, Connecticut, contributed to this report.