A Mexican citizen living illegally in the United States shot and killed five other illegal aliens in Cleveland, Texas, on Friday night. The alleged killer, 38-year-old Francisco Oropeza, is still at large and has prompted a widespread manhunt, though authorities say they have no clue where he is and “could be anywhere.”
Cleveland (population 7,471) is about 50 miles north of Houston.
Oropeza had previously been deported five times but had made his way back to the U.S. after each deportation. He is said to have most recently been encountered by the authorities in 2016. That is surprising as he habitually fired a rifle in his front yard, adjacent to the house where the murders occurred.
It was that same kind of nighttime shooting that had prompted the owner of the house, Wilson Garcia, who escaped injury, to initially complain earlier in the evening to Oropeza. That complaint then sparked the massacre.
The five deceased, all from Honduras and all believed to be in the U.S. illegally, are:
- Julisa Molina Rivera, age 31
- Sonia Argentina Guzman, age 25
- Diana Velazquez Alvarado, age 21
- Jose Jonathan Casarez, age 18
- Daniel Enrique Laso, age 8
Five additional persons were in the home at the time but were uninjured.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced a total reward of $80,000 for Oropeza’s capture, but was criticized by the mainstream media for identifying the victims’ legal status.
For more, see Fox News.
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