TEXAS COPS FINALLY GOT THE CLEVELAND MASS KILLER

Texas mass shooting suspect Francisco Oropesa in custody after 4-day manhunt: authorities 

 

By David Propper and Ronny Reyes

 

New York Post 

May 2, 2023

 

Francisco Oropesa, 38, was arrested in Conroe after a tip alerted law enforcement to the fugitive’s whereabouts, authorities said. 

 

The man accused of fatally shooting five people, including a 9-year-old boy, was caught hiding underneath laundry in a Texas home Tuesday after a four-day manhunt.

Alleged gunman Francisco Oropesa, 38, was arrested in the city of Conroe around 6:30 p.m., just 75 minutes after a tip came in that alerted law enforcement to the fugitive’s whereabouts, authorities said. 

The suspect, a Mexican national who’s reportedly been deported four times, was taken into custody without incident.

San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers called the suspect a “coward” in a Tuesday night press conference and said Oropesa was “caught hiding in a closet underneath some laundry.”

He’s facing five counts of murder and will be transferred to the county jail, where he will be held on $5 million bond, Capers said.

“They can rest easy now,” Capers said of the victims’ loved ones. “Because he is behind bars and he will live out his life behind bars for killing those five.”

FBI assistant special agent in charge Jimmy Paul said the tip leading to Oropesa’s capture came in through the federal agency’s tip line. The FBI received the tip around 5:15 p.m. and Oropesa was captured around 6:30 p.m., he said.

“We just want to thank the person who had the courage and bravery to call in the suspect’s location,” Paul said Tuesday.

 

                                                                        Francisco Oropesa allegedly killed five people.

 

There was a combined $80,000 reward from Texas and the FBI for any critical information on Oropesa’s whereabouts.

Capers said the money would go to the person who called in the invaluable tip. 

Video emerged moments after Oropesa was arrested that showed a man shirtless and handcuffed as he sat in the passenger side of a pickup truck. At least three law enforcement officers were surrounding him. 

 Sheriff Greg Capers announced Francisco Oropesa is in custody.

 

Tuesday’s arrest ends a frenzied manhunt that included more than 250 officers from the FBI and other law enforcement agencies.

Oropesa is accused of gunning down five neighbors after he was asked to stop firing shots in his yard in the Cleveland, Texas, neighborhood, authorities have said.

The suspect refused to comply, and after the family called 911 five times, the allegedly drunk man walked up to their home armed with an AR-15-style rifle.

 The house where alleged gunman Francisco Oropesa was apprehended.

 

Survivor and grieving father Wilson Garcia said his wife confronted Oropesa, believing he wouldn’t shoot a woman. However, Sonia Guzman, 25, was the first to die, followed by her son, Daniel Enrique Laso, 9, who rushed to try to help her.

Along with the mother and son, police identified the other victims as Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21, Julisa Molina Rivera, 31, and Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18.

Capers noted that Alvarado and Rivera had used their bodies to protect their three children, who were found uninjured but covered in blood inside the home.

 Sonia Guzman, 25, was the first person fatally shot, followed by her son, Daniel Enrique Laso, 9.Jose Jonathan Casarez was 18 years old.

 

He added that all five victims were shot from the neck up, “execution-style,” before Oropesa fled.

The search was slightly hindered at the start when the FBI initially released the wrong photo of the suspect, causing the misidentified man, whose name was similar to the suspect’s, to go into hiding over fears that he would be targeted.

Authorities admitted on Sunday that they had “zero leads” on Oropesa’s whereabouts and that he could be anywhere.

 Diana Velazquez Alvarado was 21 years old.Julisa Molina Rivera, 31, and Alvarado were killed shielding their children, according to police.

 

Officials then received a tip on Monday about a possible sighting in Montgomery County, leading to a lockdown in the Conroe area. The tip, however, did not lead to any results.

Oropesa, a Mexican national, was deported four times, with his most recent removal occurring in July 2016, sources told ABC News. His current immigration status is unclear.