Oropeza is considered armed and dangerous after fleeing the area Friday night, likely on foot. The FBI in Houston said in a tweet on Sunday that it was referring to the suspect as Oropesa, not Oropeza, to “better reflect his identity in law enforcement systems.” His family lists their name as Oropeza on a sign outside their yard, as well as in public records.
“I can tell you right now, we have zero leads,” James Smith, the FBI special agent in charge, said Sunday. But that search, too, turned up nothing.īoth were among the first times since the shooting that authorities had announced a possible sighting. “We regret if the information was incorrect and detracted from the important goal of finding and arresting the criminal.”Ī 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. “We’ve since learned that at least one of the victims may have been in the United States legally,” Abbott spokesperson Renae Eze said in a statement. Critics accused Abbott, who has made hard-line immigration measures a signature issue in Texas, of putting politics into the shooting. Twice on Monday, a sheriff’s office in a neighboring county alerted the public about possible sightings, but neither turned up Oropeza.Ībbott offered a $50,000 reward over the weekend for any tips that might lead to the gunman, and while doing so, the three-term governor described all the victims as “illegal immigrants” - a potentially false statement that his office walked back and apologized for Monday. Greg Abbott faced backlash over drawing attention to the victims’ immigration status.Īn FBI agent on the scene near Houston acknowledged they have little to go on in the widening manhunt for 38-year-old Francisco Oropeza, who has been deported four times since 2009, but who neighbors say lived on their street for years prior to Friday night’s shooting in the rural town of Cleveland.
WEBER (Associated Press)ĬLEVELAND, Texas (AP) - The search for a gunman in Texas who killed five neighbors from Honduras dragged into a third day Monday with false alarms and few apparent leads, while Republican Gov.
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