Man living in fear after FBI wrongly put his photo online in hunt for Texas shooting suspect
A Fort Worth man and his family are living in fear and have received death threats since the FBI wrongly plastered his photo online as the violent suspect authorities are seeking in the fatal shooting of five people.
The feds quickly corrected their shocking error Sunday, but the man’s sister-in-law said the damage is done and Francisco Oropeza is afraid to leave his home.
The 38-year-old Texas fugitive authorities are hunting for is Francisco Oropesa with an “s” while the married father of four who was mistakenly identified has a “z” for Oropeza.
“What if somebody sees a tweet and sees a Facebook share and they see the picture, and then they see him. You know?” his sister-in-law told Fox 4, adding the family has received death threats.
“They haven’t gone outside or anything,” she added about the family. “He’s a truck driver so he drives all the US. Somebody could see him somewhere.”
Francisco Oropesa, 38, allegedly shot dead five neighbors, including an 8-year-old boy, after they had asked him to stop shooting a semiautomatic rifle in his yard. ZUMAPRESS.com
She said her relative called the FBI in a panic Sunday when he saw his image carelessly tossed out by the feds.
He told them the picture they used was of a newly taken commercial driver’s license photo, Fox 4 reported.
The sister-in-law was not named for her safety.
Oropesa, the accused gunman, has been on the run since Friday’s mass shooting that killed five, including a young boy in Cleveland, Texas.
He allegedly opened fire on his neighbors after he was asked to stop shooting rounds in his yard, authorities said.
In a tweet Sunday, the FBI Houston field office put out photos of the suspect and stressed the agency was going to refer to the alleged killer as “Oropesa” to better reflect his identity in law enforcement systems.
In a previous tweet Sunday, the FBI admitted it blasted out an image of the wrong person on its social media channels Sunday.
Francisco Oropesa, wrongfully posted, is afraid to leave his home. FBI Houston
The FBI responded to posting incorrect information about the suspect. FBI Houston
“An incorrect image of Francisco Oropeza with a blue backdrop was mistakenly disseminated earlier today. That image has since been removed from FBI social media accounts,” the FBI wrote. “Please do not use that photo.”
FBI special agent in charge Jack Smith also addressed the flub during a Sunday press conference where officials offered an $80,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of Oropesa.
“As you can see, an investigation like this, we’re receiving information from a whole slew of agencies and the citizens,” Smith said. “And it was a mistake on our side of it. We acted quickly to remove that photo.”
The civilian called the FBI in a panic Sunday when he saw his image carelessly tossed out by the feds. ZUMAPRESS.com
He said the FBI is now 100% confident the correct photos are being used.
Oropeza’s sister-in-law said the screw-up should have never happened.
“It’s very horrible mistake. I just wish that they would do better journaling, making sure that before they post with such a huge deal they would do some research as to who the person is,” she told Fox 4.
Source: New York Post
