Suspect In Texas Massacre Captured After Manhunt

Police had been hunting for Francisco Oropesa after five people were killed inside a home in Cleveland, Texas.
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Police have arrested a suspect in the killing of five neighbors, including a 9-year-old boy, in Texas last week, according to multiple reports.

Francisco Oropesa, 38, was arrested in the town of Cut and Shoot, about 40 miles north of Houston. San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said at a media briefing that the arrest came after someone called the FBI hotline with a tip. Oropesa was found “hiding in a closet underneath some laundry,” he added.

He has been taken to a local jail and charged with five counts of first-degree murder. He is being held on a $5 million bond.

Montgomery County Sheriff Rand Henderson told The Associated Press the man was arrested without incident. He would not say if Oropesa had been armed.

The arrest ends a days-long manhunt after a man in Cleveland, Texas, went to a neighbor’s house with a rifle and fatally shot five people inside. Those killed had reportedly asked a neighbor to stop firing his weapon in his yard because they were trying to sleep. Authorities said last week that deputies had previously been to Oropesa’s home to speak with him about firing his weapons in his yard.

The victims were identified as natives of Honduras who had moved to the U.S., including a mother and her young son.

A Texas State Trooper vehicle passes a wanted poster for a suspect in the mass shooting in Cleveland, Texas.
A Texas State Trooper vehicle passes a wanted poster for a suspect in the mass shooting in Cleveland, Texas.
David J. Phillip via Associated Press

The shooting has inflamed anti-immigration rhetoric in Texas.

Gov. Greg Abbott (R) drew criticism drew after he issued a news release offering a $50,000 reward for information about Oropesa’s whereabouts. In his statement, the governor called the victims “illegal immigrants.” He later said he regretted that language and didn’t meant to detract “from the important goal of finding and arresting the criminal.”

Oropesa’s current immigration status is unclear. He is a Mexican national, and CNN reported last week that he had been deported at least four times.

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