The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office in Texas announced that Francisco Oropesa, the subject of a critical manhunt and the suspect in the de@ths of five persons, had been apprehended. Without incident, Oropesa was apprehended in Montgomery County on Tuesday night. Oropesa was reportedly discovered by investigators in a closet, hidden beneath some laundry.
The FBI reported that at 5:15 p.m. they received a “one-time random tip” from someone who had “courage and bravery” regarding Oropesa’s whereabouts. Upon arriving at the residence, U.S. Marshals, Texas DPS, and the BORTAC unit of the Border Patrol detained Oropesa at about 6:30 p.m.
Oropesa, whom he referred to as a “coward,” has been charged with five charges of mu*der and will be detained in San Jacinto County on a $5 million bond, according to the county sheriff. According to Capers, Oropesa is unharmed. After allegedly shooting and k!lling five of his neighbors, including a 9-year-old boy, on Friday night after one of them requested him to cease firing off his rifle in his yard, Oropesa, 38, escaped Cleveland, Texas.
All of the fatalities, who ranged in age from 9 to 31, were thought to be Hondurans. Greg Capers, sheriff of San Jacinto County, claimed that all were shot “from the neck up.”
Sonia Argentina Guzman, age 25; Diana Velazquez Alvarado, age 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, age 31; Jose Jonathan Casarez, age 18, and Daniel Enrique Laso, age 9, were the victims.
There were ten individuals in the house, some of whom had only moved in earlier this week, according to Capers, but no one else was hurt. He claimed that two of the victims were discovered in a bedroom, lying over two kids in what appeared to be an effort to protect them. Three kids in all were found in the house covered in blood; they were rushed to a hospital but were later found to be unharmed, according to Capers. You must check out Texas Teen Faces 45-Year Prison Sentence For Shocking Uber Eats Mu*der
In a statement sent to the victims’ surviving family members on Tuesday night, Capers said, “They can rest easy now because he is behind bars and he will live out his life behind bars.”
Following the fatal shooting, more than 200 law enforcement officers from various jurisdictions went on a manhunt. Across the nation, in states like Wyoming, Florida, and Maryland, the FBI received tips.
“Basically, this is what we do. Jimmy Paul, the FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge, said on Tuesday, “We turn up, we bring the necessary resources, and we don’t let up. We’ve always maintained that the suspect will be apprehended; the question is when, not if. We are quite happy that the when was today.
The victims’ neighbors recently stated that they don’t feel safe since risky behavior like the shooting occurs frequently.
“Full automatics will be heard nonstop all day. It’s nothing new,” said Dale Tiller, a neighbor. In a small rural country town, you might wonder, “How could it be like that? It is exactly that way.
Before Oropesa allegedly turned the gun on his neighbors, the Associated Press reported that one of the survivors dialed 911 at least five times in an effort to summon police to the scene. At a news conference on Tuesday night, law enforcement officials avoided answering questions about the shooting response.
We have given a tweet about the Illegal Immigrant mu*der suspect caught hiding under laundry in a closet in the City of Cut and Shoot TX. 17+ miles West of the mu*der scene. You can see below:
Illegal Immigrant murder suspect caught hiding under laundry in a closet in the City of Cut and Shoot TX. 17+ miles West of the murder scene pic.twitter.com/eYmoQ6JgAx
— LasVegasLance (@lasvegaslance) May 3, 2023
Mexican national Oropesa was deported four times between 2009 and 2016, according to information provided to NewsNation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Oropesa, however, has not come into contact with law enforcement since his 2016 deportation. You may also consider The Texas Trucker The Seattle Podcaster And Family Mu*der
“We actually filed charges on him in 2022. To the best of my knowledge, we got a warrant for him and the constable went to serve him in another county because he left herJe and never could make contact with the subject. Then a few days later, the victim went to the district attorney’s office in our county and filed a nonprosecution statement,” Capers said Tuesday.
It was questioned how someone with a criminal record and a history of deportations, like Oropesa, could have access to de@dly weaponry like guns. Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, said that Oropesa and the victims were both illegal immigrants. In case Oropesa tries to exit the country, the governor has also instructed law officials around the border to stay alert.
The Republican governor, though, encountered criticism for bringing up the victims’ immigration status. Texas was offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the perpetrator. According to Sheriff Capers, the person who called in the statement that resulted in Oropesa’s capture will receive the prize money.