Border Patrol on alert for Texas mass shooting suspect Francisco Oropesa
US Border Patrol officers have been told to look out for the Texas gunman accused of killing his five neighbors, including a mother and her 9-year-old son, as the manhunt for the fugitive continues into day four.
Agents at the border received a briefing Tuesday regarding suspect Francisco Oropesa, 38, a Mexican national who has been deported four times since 2009, sources told CNN.
With hundreds of tips coming in about the fugitive’s possible whereabouts, the alert at the border suggests officials are wary that Oropesa could have traveled more than 400 miles from Cleveland, Texas, to reach the southern border and escape prosecution.
Shooting suspect Francisco Oropesa, 38, remains on the run after Friday’s shooting. AP
Authorities have put together a new wanted poster featuring several headshots of the suspect, as well as the distinctive tattoos he sports on his arm and back.
Several Spanish-language billboards and posters have also been set up in Texas and Mexico urging anyone with information on Oropesa to reach out to law enforcement.
There is a combined $80,000 reward for critical information about Oropesa’s whereabouts, with officials asking Mexican news outlets to spread the word.
Authorities released a new wanted poster for the Mexican national. San Jacinto County Sheriffâs Office
It has since been revealed that Oropesa was first deported by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in March 2009. He was removed again in September 2009, and another time in January 2012 after he was convicted in Montgomery County for driving while intoxicated, sources said.
He was last deported in July 2016, and it remains unclear what his current immigration status is or when he came back into the country.
Oropesa is to be considered “armed and dangerous” after he opened fire on his neighbors last Friday when they complained that his shooting had awakened their baby.
Signs in Spanish have been set up in Texas and Mexico. AP
Sonia Guzman, 25, and her son Daniel Enrique Laso, 9, were shot and killed.
Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18, was also among the victims of Friday’s mass shooting.
Police said Oropesa grabbed an AR-15-style rifle and shot and killed Sonia Guzman, 25, her son, Daniel Enrique Laso, 9, along with Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21, Julisa Molina Rivera, 31, and Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18.
San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said all five victims were shot from the neck up, “execution-style.”
Survivor and grieving father Wilson Garcia said that Sonia had tried to confront the gunman, believing he wouldn’t shoot a woman. His son was shot after rushing to help his mother.
Diana Velazquez Alvarado and Julisa Molina Rivera both died protecting children.
One of the other victims also instructed Garcia to jump out a window to safety in order to make sure that his surviving children would still have a father.
Oropesa fled afterward, prompting an extensive search for the suspect that included local, state and federal agencies.
Authorities admitted Sunday that they had “zero leads” on Oropesa’s whereabouts and that he could be anywhere.
US border agents were told to be on the lookout for suspect Francisco Oropesa. James Keivom
“Law enforcement officials are analyzing hundreds of pieces of information from all over related to #ClevelandTXshooting,” the FBI’s Houston branch tweeted Tuesday afternoon. “Officials are out on foot, in vehicles & inside mobile command centers using all available human & technological resources to gather intelligence, pursue tips.”
Source: New York Post
