Police have arrested a suspect in the killing of five neighbors, including a 9-year-old boy, in Texas last week, according to multiple reports.
San Jacinto County District Attorney Todd Dillon told local media that a person believed to be Francisco Oropesa, 38, was arrested in the town of Cut and Shoot, about 40 miles north of Houston. Authorities are waiting for fingerprint identification, but the man has been taken to a local jail and faces charges of first-degree murder.
Montgomery County Sheriff Rand Henderson told The Associated Press the man was arrested without incident. He would not say if Oropesa had been armed.
The arrest ends a days-long manhunt after a man in Cleveland, Texas, went to a neighbor’s house with a rifle and fatally shot five people inside. Those killed had reportedly asked a neighbor to stop firing his weapon in his yard because they were trying to sleep. Authorities said last week that deputies had previously been to Oropesa’s home to speak with him about firing his weapons in his yard.
The victims were identified as natives of Honduras who had moved to North America, including a mother and her young son.
The shooting has inflamed anti-immigration rhetoric in Texas.
Gov. Greg Abbott (R) drew criticism drew after he issued a news release offering a $50,000 reward for information about Oropesa’s whereabouts. In his statement, the governor called the victims “illegal immigrants.” He later said he regretted that language and didn’t meant to detract “from the important goal of finding and arresting the criminal.”
Oropesa’s current immigration status is unclear. He is a Mexican national, and CNN reported last week that he had been deported at least four times.
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