Authorities are still searching for the suspect connected to an “execution-style” shooting that killed five family members in Texas, including an 8-year-old boy.
The suspect, Francisco Oropesa, 38, was armed with a black AR-15 semi-automatic rifle when he went to the home in the Trails End area in Cleveland around 11:30 p.m. Friday April 28, and opened fire, the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office said.
The FBI previously said the suspect’s last name as “Oropeza” but released the updated spelling as “Oropesa” on Sunday “to better reflect his identity in law enforcement systems,” the FBI’s Houston office tweeted Sunday.
On Saturday, authorities believed they had the suspect within a 2-mile or so search area but said later he may have slipped past it after they found his cell phone and clothing.
“He could be anywhere now,” Sheriff Greg Capers said at a news conference.
James Smith, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Houston-area office, urged anyone who spots the suspect to call 911.
“We consider him armed and dangerous,” he said. “He is out there, and he’s a threat to the community.”
Authorities are offering an $80,000 reward for information leading to the suspect’s capture, they announced Sunday.
The state of Texas is offering $50,000 of the total reward money, and Multi-County Crime Stoppers, a local nonprofit organization, is offering $5,000 more. The FBI is offering another $25,000, Smith said.
Smith said Sunday that authorities are “running into dead ends” as he appealed to the public to share any relevant information.
“Right now, we have zero leads of him,” he added.
Capers identified the five people who were killed as Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25; Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18; and Daniel Enrique Laso, 8.
He said earlier that all were from Honduras.
