Posted: Mon May 01, 2023 6:50 am Post subject: Texas Shooting: 5 people executed. FBI Manhunt underway. FBI released photos of the wrong man
Gist of the story: Francisco Oropesa, from Cleveland, TX was shooting his guns on his own property. His neighbors asked him to shoot the gun elsewhere because their baby was sleeping. He got mad, went over to their house and executed 5 of them, including a 9 yr old kid (not sure if there was a baby or if they referred to the 9 yr old kid as their baby).
Other reports said he shot at 10, 5 were killed. He shot them execution style, at close range, above the neck. Looks like this article now says there's 15 people in that house.
There's an active manhunt going on right now, FBI released a photo of the wrong man, a Francisco Oropeza (from Fort Worth), spelled with a "Z" and not an "S". This man is now receiving death threats and is afraid for his life. Currently, the FBI has no leads on this man. Supposedly, he's here illegally and has been deported multiple times.
Immediately after it happened, they set up a 2 mile radius but they believe he escaped either by foot or by bicycle. They do have his cell phone, so they know who his close contacts are.
Quote:
The dad whose wife and child were among 5 killed by a neighbor in Texas describes how the massacre unfolded
Cleveland, Texas
Authorities are pleading for the public’s help as they search for a shooter suspected of killing five people – including a 9-year-old boy – after the child’s father asked the gunman to stop firing his rifle near the family’s home.
More than 250 law enforcement officers and $80,000 in reward money have been devoted to capturing Francisco Oropesa, 38, who police say gunned down his neighbors Friday night at their home northeast of Houston. He’s considered armed and dangerous, an FBI official said.
Moments before the massacre, Wilson Garcia and two other men had walked over to Oropesa’s yard to ask him to stop shooting so close to their home because their baby was sleeping, Garcia told CNN. They’d asked Oropesa to shoot on the other side of his property, he said.
The gunman later came to Garcia’s home, shooting his wife, Sonia Argentina Guzman, in the doorway before killing three other adults and Garcia’s son, Daniel Enrique Laso-Guzman, the grieving father said.
“One of the people who died saw when my wife fell to the ground,” Garcia told CNN.
“She told me to throw myself out the window because my children were already without a mother. So one of us had to stay alive to take care of them. She was the person who helped me jump out the window.”
The woman who helped Garcia flee did not survive, he said.
When police arrived, they found the victims had been shot “almost execution style” at close range above the neck, San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers told local media.
Before the deadly confrontation at Garcia’s home in Cleveland, Texas, five 911 calls had been made to report the gunman shooting his rifle outdoors, the father said.
Authorities got to the scene as fast as they could, Capers said. But his small force covers a large county, he said, and the home is about 15 minutes outside town.
The other victims have been identified as Diana Velázquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31, and José Jonathan Cásarez, 18. Daniel Enrique Laso-Guzman turned 9 in January, Garcia said; authorities previously said he was 8.
Extensive search yields ‘zero leads’
A collective $80,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of Oropesa. “We consider him armed and dangerous,” said James Smith, FBI Houston special agent in charge. “He’s out there, and he’s a threat to the community.”
Authorities had “zero leads” on Oropesa’s location as of Sunday afternoon, Smith said, adding the Mexican national could be anywhere.
Oropesa’s wife has been interviewed multiple times and is in “constant contact” with investigators, the sheriff said.
Authorities had been tracking Oropesa’s cell phone but found it abandoned Saturday along with some clothes, Capers said. Tracking dogs picked up a scent from the items, but the trail vanished, Capers said.
The hefty reward for Oropesa’s arrest will be advertised on Spanish-language billboards in the area, urging the public to submit tips, the sheriff said.
“I can pretty much can guarantee you he’s contacted some of his friends,” said Smith, the FBI agent. “We just don’t know which friends they are, and that is what we need from the public is any type of information.”
Victims’ bodies to be repatriated to Honduras
After officials confirmed those killed were all Honduran nationals, the Honduran Foreign Ministry is preparing to repatriate their remains, it said.
“The Government of Honduras deeply regrets the loss of these valuable lives and accompanies all their loved ones in their pain. We demand that the pertinent authorities arrest the perpetrator of this terrible event and apply the full weight of the law,” the agency said in a statement.
There had been 15 people in the house at the time of the shooting, Garcia told CNN. Authorities previously had said there were 10 people in the home.
The sheriff got emotional Sunday when he spoke about Daniel Enrique Laso-Guzman, the young boy who was killed
“I don’t care if he was here legally. I don’t care if he was here illegally. He was in my county,” Capers said. “Five people died in my county, and that is where my heart is – in my county, protecting my people to the best of our ability.”
Family of Fort Worth man worried about his safety after he was misidentified as gunman in mass shooting
A Fort Worth man and his family say they are terrified and angry after the FBI originally posted his photo and identified him as the suspected shooter that killed five people near Houston Friday night.
He shares the same name as the suspect, but his last name is spelled with a Z instead of an S.
That mistake, he says, has caused him and his family to receive death threats this weekend.
Francisco Oropeza’s family said he just started a new job in North Texas last week.
He's a husband and has children.
Now, his entire family is unsure if they will even leave their homes anytime soon.
"What if somebody sees the tweet and sees a Facebook share and sees the picture, and then they see him. You know?" his sister-in-law said.
A Fort Worth family is now fearful after the FBI admitted it wrongly identified a man who is a wanted fugitive for killing five of his neighbors in Cleveland, Texas.
FOX 4 spoke to a woman Sunday who said that incorrect photo was of her brother-in-law, a husband and father of four who lives in Fort Worth.
We are not naming the woman for her safety.
"They haven’t gone outside or anything, but yeah absolutely. He’s a truck driver. He drives all the U.S.," she said. "Somebody could see him somewhere."
The woman said the armed and dangerous suspect wanted out of San Jacinto County and her brother-in-law share a similar name but have different spellings.
She said her brother-in-law called the FBI himself on Sunday, panicking.
He explained to investigators that they had posted a picture of the wrong man and that the photo used was his newly taken CDL photo.
"At that point, we were like. ‘Oh gosh. What do we do?’ This is being shared basically nationwide. It’s all over the place," she recalled.
An hour after that call, FBI Houston tweeted about their mistake, including new images of suspect Francisco Oropesa, and made it clear that, going forward, the suspect’s last name will be spelled Oropesa, with an S instead of a Z.
"We went back, looked at what we had, and now we are 100% confident we have the right photo out there, but it was, it was a mistake. We will own up on it," said James Smith, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Houston field office.
At Sunday afternoon’s press conference, the FBI addressed the mistake to reporters.
"As you can see, an investigation like this, we're receiving information from a whole slew of agencies and the citizens. And it was a mistake on our side of it. We identified it. We acted quickly to remove that photo," Smith added.
But the Fort Worth family said screenshots and incorrect articles are still circulating on the web.
"It’s very horrible mistake. I wish they would do better journaling before they post. With such a huge deal, do research on who the person is," his sister-in-law said.
The family was reportedly told an FBI agent would visit their home Sunday, but at last check Sunday afternoon, they were staying at home waiting for the agent to arrive.
Suspect in Texas massacre had been deported 4 times after entering US illegally, ICE source says
The suspect, identified by ICE as Francisco Oropesa Perez-Torres, was first removed by an immigration judge in March 2009, the ICE source said. “At an unknown time and location, Perez-Torres unlawfully reentered the United States, and was apprehended and removed several more times by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations in September 2009, January 2012, and July 2016,” the source said.
Also what's with the FBI making a mistake by posting pictures of the wrong person. I thought you have to be highly educated with high IQ to be working for the FBI. That person had one job to do and that is double and triple check before posting pictures of the suspect.
Also what's with the FBI making a mistake by posting pictures of the wrong person. I thought you have to be highly educated with high IQ to be working for the FBI. That person had one job to do and that is double and triple check before posting pictures of the suspect.
Yeah, they're blaming local law enforcement who was on the scene first and gave them the name Oropeza
San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers kicked off a press conference Tuesday night by saying, “Great news, the suspect is in custody. I have just left the Montgomery County Jail, where he was taken and he has been magistrated. He will now be taken to my jail, where his new residence will be.”
He said the suspect is uninjured.
“He was caught hiding in a closet, underneath some laundry. They effectively made the arrest. He is uninjured,” the sheriff said.
Oropeza was captured as a result of a call to the tip line, FBI assistant special agent Jimmy Paul said. He said they received the tip at 5:15 p.m., and the arrest was made at 6:30 p.m.
“The tip for the suspect location came in from the FBI tip line, and we just want to thank the person who had the courage and bravery to call in the suspect’s location,” Paul said.
Officials said the caller will receive the monetary award for giving them the tip.
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