Authorities said that they have “zero leads” on the whereabouts of the gunman who killed five people inside their Cleveland, Texas, home Friday night.
James Smith, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Houston Field Office, shared law enforcement’s conundrum Sunday while updating the public on its manhunt for shooting suspect Francisco Oropesa.
“We do not know where he is. We don’t have any tips right now to where he may be,” Mr. Smith said. “Right now, we’re running into dead ends.”
Over 200 officers from state and federal agencies are involved in the search for the shooting suspect who authorities originally thought they had surrounded within a two-mile area Saturday.
Once law enforcement found Mr. Oropesa’s discarded phone and clothing items, San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers suggested the suspect may have slipped past their perimeter. Police dogs have also lost Mr. Oropesa’s scent after briefly picking it up.
“He could be anywhere now,” Sheriff Capers said at the Sunday news conference.
Authorities consider Mr. Oropesa, a 38-year-old Mexican, armed and dangerous. They announced an $80,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the suspect.
He’s accused of shooting and killing the five victims inside their home in Cleveland, Texas, after homeowner and survivor Wilson Garcia went to Mr. Oropesa’s home and told him to stop firing his gun from his porch, according to Houston ABC affiliate KTRK-TV.
Mr. Garcia told the station he went over and asked the suspect to stop shooting because his 1-month-old baby was trying to sleep. The homeowner also said he was going to call police if Mr. Oropesa didn’t stop firing his weapon.
That’s when the suspect grabbed an AR-15 rifle and entered Mr. Garcia’s home around 11:30 p.m., shooting and killing Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25; Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18; and Daniel Enrique Laso, 8, authorities said.
Sheriff Capers described the shootings as “execution style” since the victims suffered gunshot wounds above the neck at close range. Two of the female victims were found lying on top of three young children, who survived the rampage.
All the victims were Hondurans, according to authorities. A total of 10 people were inside the home at the time of the shooting.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.