Multiple Arrests Made in Texas Mass Shooting

(NewsReady.com) – Francisco Oropesa, 38, was reportedly drunk on April 28 and grew angry when his neighbors asked him to stop firing his AR-15 in his yard. The Mexican national, who’d been allegedly deported at least four times in the past, decided he was going to do something about his anger. Police say he went next door in his rural Texas neighborhood and massacred his neighbors, including a 9-year-old boy who used to ride bikes with his child. Now, he is sitting in jail, and other people connected to him were also arrested.

Oropesa allegedly murdered two women as they shielded three babies, Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21, and Julisa Molina Rivera, 31. He’s also accused of killing mother and son, Sonia Argentina Guzmán, 25, and Daniel Enrique Laso Guzmán, 9. Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18, was gunned down as well. All of the victims suffered execution-style wounds.

After allegedly murdering his neighbors, Oropesa led federal, local, and state police on a four-day manhunt. A tipster finally revealed his location on Tuesday, May 2. Just over an hour later, police took the accused killer into custody in Cut and Shoot, Texas.

#BREAKING San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers and @FBIHouston announce that Francisco Oropesa has been CAPTURED.
He was arrested this evening at around 6:45 p.m. at a home in Conroe, TX, after the #FBI received an anonymous tip with his location. #ClevelandTXshooting pic.twitter.com/9KySBs09UC

— FBI Houston (@FBIHouston) May 3, 2023

Law enforcement found the suspect hiding in a closet under a pile of laundry. His longtime girlfriend, Divimara Lamar Nava, 53, was also arrested by authorities. She’d originally told police that she had no idea where he was. That proved to be a bald-faced lie. She’s being charged with hindering the capture of a known felon and is being held on $250,000. Another man was also taken into custody, Domingo Castilla.

Castilla is under investigation by police for providing assistance to the alleged killer. His bond was set at $5,000.

Oropesa was charged with five counts of murder. A judge set his bond at $7.5 million, virtually ensuring he will not get out of jail before his trial — or maybe ever again.

Meanwhile, the families of the victims are left to pick up the pieces of their lives.