Authorities offer $80,000 reward for Texas mass shooting suspect

An $80,000 reward is being offered in the arrest of Francisco Orpesa of San Jacinto County after fleeing from a shooting that left five people dead, including an 8-year-old boy.

37-year-old Orpesa allegedly shot his neighbors after they asked him to stop firing off gun rounds in his yard. Investigators found clothes and a phone while searching a rural area near the shooting site, but eventually tracking dogs lost the scent.

San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said Saturday evening, “He could be anywhere now.” Police recovered the AR-15-style rifle that Oropesa allegedly used in the shooting, but authorities are not sure if he was carrying another weapon, the sheriff said.

“We’re asking everyone for your help until we can bring this suspect, or this monster I will call him, to justice,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge, James Smith. “Right now we’re running into dead ends,” he said.

The attack happened near the town of Cleveland, north of Houston, on a street where some residents say neighbors often fire off guns.

Capers said the victims were between the ages of 8 and 31 years old and that all were shot, “from the neck up,” he said.

FBI spokesperson Christina Garza said investigators do not believe everyone at the home were members of a single family. The victims were identified as Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25; Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18; and Daniel Enrique Laso, 8.

Capers said his deputies had been to Oropesa’s home at least once before and spoken with him about “shooting his gun in the yard.” No action against Oropesa was taken at this time.

Rene Arevalo Sr., who lives a few houses down, said he heard gunshots around midnight but didn’t think anything of it. A few months prior to the shooting, Arevalo said Oropesa threatened to kill his dog after it got loose in the neighborhood and chased the pit bull in his truck.

“I tell my wife all the time, ‘Stay away from the neighbors. Don’t argue with them. You never know how they’re going to react,’” Arevalo said. “I tell her that because Texas is a state where you don’t know who has a gun and who is going to react that way.

Source & Image – San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office