Texas shooting - latest: Francisco Oropesa and partner ‘plotted escape to Mexico’ after Cleveland massacre

Texas massacre suspect Francisco Oropesa’s partner Divimara Lamar Nava brought him donuts from a local store and helped plot escape, say officials

5 killed, including 8-year-old in San Jacinto County, shooter at large

Francisco Oropesa and his partner were allegedly plotting their escape to Mexico after he killed five of his neighbours in a horror mass shooting in Cleveland, Texas.

Authorities said on Wednesday that the suspected gunman hid out in a home near Conroe just miles from the massacre while Divimara Lamar Nava brought him donuts from a local store.

Ms Lamar Nava also allegedly delivered a message to Mr Oropesa’s cousins asking them to help in their escape over the border – all the while she was pretending to cooperate with investigators.

She is now facing charges for helping Mr Oropesa following his capture on Tuesday.

The accused gunman had been the focus of a dramatic four-day manhunt in the wake of Friday’s shooting which unfolded when his neighbours asked him to stop shooting near their home because a baby was trying to sleep.

He allegedly stormed into his neighbours’ home with an AR-15-style rifle and opened fire on people inside.

Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25, her nine-year-old son Daniel Enrique Laso-Guzman, Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21, Julisa Molina Rivera, 31, and José Jonathan Cásarez, 18, were all killed in the shooting.

Key Points

• Texas shooting suspect in custody four days after five people killed over noise complaint
• Five dead in Texas shooting as armed suspect on the loose
• Police found Oropesa by surveilling his wife
• Victims in deadly Texas shooting named as survivor recounts confronting gunman with machete
• What do we know about the suspect?

[5 May 2023 02:00 · Ariana Baio]

Francisco Oropesa charged with first-degree murder

Following an investigation where leads seemed to be few and far between, the prosecution of Francisco Oropesa is now moving swiftly following his arrest on Tuesday.

On Tuesday evening, the 38-year-old was moved to the Montgomery County, Texas, jail and charged with first-degree murder, NBC News reports.

[5 May 2023 03:00 · Ariana Baio]

Texas shooting suspect Francisco Oropesa had been deported from US four times

Francisco Oropesa, the man accused of fatally shooting five people including a nine-year-old boy in Cleveland, Texas this past weekend has been deported from the US four times, according to reports.

Mr Oropesa, allegedly an undocumented immigrant from Mexico according to Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s office, had been apprehended and removed from the US several times, according to a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) source.

The source told The Independent that Mr Oropesa, whose full name is reportedly Francisco Oropesa Perez-Torres, was first removed by an immigration judge in March 2009.

The Independent reports:

[5 May 2023 04:00 · Ariana Baio]

What we know about Texas shooting suspect accused of killing five over ‘noise complaint’

After four days of searching, law enforcement captured 38-year-old Francisco Oropesa, who is suspected of fatally shooting five people in Cleveland, Texas.

Mr Oropesa allegedly entered his neighbor’s home armed with an assault-style rifle on Friday evening (28 April) after his neighbor, Wilson Garcia, asked him to stop shooting his gun in his backyard because it was keeping Mr Garcia’s baby awake.

The Independent reports:

[5 May 2023 05:00 · Ariana Baio]

Heroic mother confronted Texas gunman at door after calling 911 five times before horror mass shooting

A mother gunned down in a mass shooting in Texas on Friday was killed when she heroically confronted the gunman at the doorway to her home after the family had called 911 five times to report the suspect.

Wilson Garcia spoke out at a vigil in Cleveland, Texas, on Sunday night after his wife Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25, and nine-year-old son Daniel Enrique Laso-Guzman were among the five innocent victims killed in the shocking massacre.

Rachel Sharp reports:

[5 May 2023 06:00 · Ariana Baio]

Arrested: Domingo Castilla

One of the individuals arrested in connection to the Texas mass shooting has been named Domingo Castilla.

“Several” arrests were made after Francisco Oropesa was taken into custody – but officials have kept their identities under wraps.

San Jacinto County District Attorney Todd Dillon said at a press conference on Wednesday that one of the people arrested was Mr Oropesa’s friend Mr Castilla.

He was charged with marijuana possession but is expected to also face charges of obstructing Mr Oropesa’s apprehension, Mr Dillon said.

He was arrested on Tuesday in the Trail’s End neighborhood not far from where the five victims were shot dead.

[5 May 2023 07:00 · Ariana Baio]

Nine-year-old boy died in Texas mass shooting when he ran to protect his mother from gunman

Moments before nine-year-old Daniel Enrique Laso-Guzman was shot and killed, he was running to protect his mother from the shooter, his heartbroken father said.

Ariana Baio reports:

[5 May 2023 08:00 · Ariana Baio]

Texas shooting suspect found hiding in closet under laundry days after five killed over noise complaint

The gunman accused of shooting dead five neighbours in Texas after they made a noise complaint against him has been captured hiding in a closet under laundry after four days on the run.

Francisco Oropesa, 38, was arrested in the city of Cut and Shoot, Texas, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on Tuesday evening.

Graeme Massie reports:

[5 May 2023 09:00 · Ariana Baio]

Authorities capture alleged shooter Francisco Oropesa

Francisco Oropesa, the alleged shooter who killed five people in Cleveland, Texas, was captured after being on the run for four days.

The San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office released Mr Oropesa’s photo and information related to the arrest on Wednesday (3 May).

[5 May 2023 10:00 · Ariana Baio]

Police investigating how Francisco Oropesa bought assault rifle

Francisco Oropesa, a Texas man who was wanted for allegedly shooting five people in the city of Cleveland on Friday, may have illegally bought an assault rifle used in the shootings.

Greg Capers, sheriff of San Jacinto County, said officials are investigating how the 38-year-old was able to obtain such a weapon given the man’s previous brushes with law enforcement, including being deported four times.

The sheriff said he thought the man may have been able to “buy it from somebody else on the street.”

[5 May 2023 11:00 · Ariana Baio]

Texas man wrongly identified by FBI as Cleveland shooting suspect is now in hiding over safety fears

A man who shares a similar name to the suspect in a deadly shooting in Cleveland, Texas, is now hiding in fear for his safety after the FBI wrongly identified him in a social media post.

The man, Francisco Oropeza, has the same last name as the true suspect Francisco Oropesa, but spells it was a “z” instead of an “s”.

The Independent reports: