Search for suspected killer of 5 ends peacefully

CLEVELAND — A four-day manhunt sparked by the shooting deaths of five people including an 9-year-old ended peacefully Tuesday night after a tactical team captured the suspected gunman.

Neighbors in the surrounding areas said they are breathing a sigh of relief following the news that Francisco Oropeza, 38, was detained in Cut and Shoot, about 17 miles west of Cleveland.

"We have great news. The suspect is in custody," said San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers during a press conference Tuesday night.

Slapped with a $5 million bond, he was transferred to a San Jacinto County sheriff’s facility in Coldspring.

"Now Oropeza will be taken to my jail where his new residence will be," said Capers.

According to federal agents at a press conference late Tuesday, the arrest followed a notification to the FBI’s tip line that led them to a man hiding in a closet under a pile of laundry.

A Department of Public Safety tactical team entered the house and found Oropeza, officials said. He surrendered without incident.

"We're extremely delighted that the suspect has been apprehended," said Jimmy Paul with the Houston Office of the FBI.

No injuries were reported when Oropeza was caught. He is a Mexican national who has been deported from the United States four times since 2009, immigration officials have said. 

The incident that sparked one of the largest law-enforcement manhunts in recent San Jacinto County history began Friday night near Cleveland after a man armed with an AR-15 rifle was asked to stop shooting close to a neighbor’s home. 

Wilson Garcia, whose wife and son were slain, said he told the armed man a baby was sleeping inside the house, according to reports. Garcia said they would have to call police if the man didn’t move to the other side of his house if he wanted to keep shooting, according to reports.

Instead, the assailant charged into the home, where a group had gathered to prepare for a church event, and opened fire, according to witnesses.

The killer then fled.

 The dead, said by law-enforcement officers to be Honduran nationals, include Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18, Julisa Molina Rivera, 31, Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21, Daniel Enrique Las-Guzman, 9, and his mother, Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25.

The Sheriff assured the family they could rest easy now with the suspect behind bars.

"He will live out his life behind bars for killing those five," said Capers.

Earlier in the week, Gov. Greg Abbott offered an $80,000 reward for information leading to Oropeza’s arrest. More than 250 law-enforcement officers from a variety of local, state and national agencies participated in the investigation.

For more details on the case, pick up this week’s edition of The Vindicator.