The search for a suspected gunman has entered its fourth day after five neighbors were shot dead in Texas – as a grieving father has recalled the moment his wife and young son were killed.
Francisco Oropesa, who is considered to be armed and dangerous, is believed to have fled the rural town of Cleveland on foot after the shooting on Friday night.
Neighbors have said the Mexican national had lived on the street where the shooting took place for years.
The attacks took place after the 38-year-old’s neighbors asked him to stop firing off rounds in his garden late at night because a baby was trying to sleep.
The gunman ‘s victims were all from Honduras and have been identified as Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18; Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25; and Daniel Enrique Laso, 9.
More than 250 law enforcement officers from multiple agencies, including the US Marshals, are now part of a growing search.
Oropesa has not been found despite scent-tracking dogs, drones and a total of $80,000 in reward money on offer.
An FBI agent on the scene near Houston has acknowledged the bureau has little to go on in the widening manhunt.
On Monday, a heavy police presence converged in Montgomery County after a possible sighting, but the sheriff’s office later said none of the people located were Oropesa.
A few hours later, the department reported another possible sighting, tweeting that several schools had “secured their campuses” and again asked residents to avoid the area.
But that search, too, turned up nothing.
