Texas Shooting Suspect Who Allegedly Killed 5 Arrested, Found Hiding Under Laundry

Suspect Francisco Oropesa, 38, in an undated photo, is accused of killing five in Cleveland, Texas, on April 29, 2023. FBI Houston

The mass shooting suspect who allegedly killed five people—including a 9-year-old boy—late last month has been arrested after a four-day manhunt, Texas officials said.

Francisco Oropeza, 38, allegedly shot his neighbors on April 28.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and the San Jacinto County District Attorney’s Office both confirmed that Oropeza was arrested around 7 p.m. local time on Tuesday, near Conroe.

Authorities, acting on a tip, said they found Oropeza hiding underneath a pile of laundry in the closet of a house.

The arrest was without incident. The district attorney’s office said the FBI, Border Patrol, and U.S. Marshals were involved in the arrest.

Oropeza will be charged with five counts of murder, San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said. Bond was set at $5 million.

“They can rest easy now, because he is behind bars,” Capers said of the families of the victims. “He will live out his life behind bars for killing those five.”

Neighbor Who Survived Speaks Out

According to Wilson Garcia, who had survived the shooting, he and two people approached Oropeza to ask him to stop firing rounds in his yard, because a baby—Garcia’s son—was trying to sleep at their home. However, Oropeza said he could do what he wanted on his property.

Shortly after the neighbors’ request, Oropeza walked up to their house with an AR-style rifle and started firing, killing five out of 10 people in the house. Garcia’s wife—the baby’s mother—was at the front door when she was shot. The baby’s 9-year-old brother was also among those killed.

The victims were identified as Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18; Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25; and Daniel Enrique Laso, 9.

All of the victims were from Honduras, while Oropeza is a Mexican national who has been deported four times. He was first deported in March 2009 and last in July 2016. He was also deported in September 2009 and January 2012, according to U.S. immigration officials.

Oropeza fled the scene following the shooting, sparking a multi-day search for him that ultimately involved about 250 law enforcement officers from multiple agencies. Drones and scent-tracking dogs were used in the search, which included going through a forest a few miles away from the crime scene.

Late into the weekend, Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, offered $50,000 as a reward as the search yielded no results.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.