🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
A four-day manhunt for Texas shooting suspect Francisco Oropeza has ended a short distance from the site of the massacre.
Oropeza, a 38-year-old immigrant from Mexico who had been deported four times, is suspected of fatally shooting five of his neighbors with an assault-style rifle, including a 9-year-old boy, after being asked to stop firing off rounds in his yard on Friday due to a sleeping baby.
The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post that Oropeza was taken into custody "without incident" on Tuesday evening. The shooting occurred in neighboring San Jacinto County, near the town of Cleveland, about 45 miles north of Houston.
The FBI's Houston field office said Oropeza was captured following an anonymous tip that led officers to a home in Conroe, about 20 miles from the shooting site. He was arrested at around 6:45 p.m. local time.
"We now have this man in custody," San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said during a press conference on Tuesday night. "He was caught hiding in a closet underneath some laundry ... He is uninjured and he is currently being taken to my facility in Coldspring."
"[The victims] can rest easy now," he continued. "Because he is behind bars."
Capers went on to say that Oropeza is being held on a $5 million bond and will be charged with five counts of murder.
Multiple videos shared on social media appeared to show a calm and handcuffed Oropeza being arrested by officers in a residential neighborhood.
Hours before the arrest, on Tuesday morning, the FBI said that Oropeza "could be anywhere" while urging members of the public to provide tips and share potentially relevant surveillance footage.
The four-day search for the suspect was aided by over 250 law enforcement officers from dozens of agencies.
While the first three days of the manhunt yielded no results despite the use of drones and scent-tracking dogs, the search ultimately ended due to a single call to the FBI tip line.
The victims, all immigrants from Honduras, were identified as Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25; Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18; and Daniel Enrique Laso, 9.
The immigration status of Oropeza and the victims, as well as the never-ending debate over gun control, reemerged as political talking points in the days following the shooting.
GOP Texas Governor Greg Abbott was hit with a firestorm of criticism after referring to the victims as "illegal immigrants" in a press release on Sunday.
Some Democrats suggested that the shooting highlights the need for stricter gun laws, while a number of Republicans have hinted that President Joe Biden's border policies may have played a role in the massacre.
All of Oropeza's previous deportations occurred during the administration of former President Barack Obama.
About the writer
Aila Slisco is a Newsweek night reporter based in New York. Her focus is on reporting national politics, where she ... Read more