As a man who lost his wife and son in a shooting rampage in Texas wept so loudly that his sobs were audible over a choir singing “Amazing Grace” at a vigil Sunday evening, the suspect remained at large.
The suspect, Francisco Oropesa, who is accused of killing five people, had been shooting his gun in his yard in Cleveland on Friday evening when his neighbour Wilson Garcia approached him and asked him to stop so that his baby could sleep.
Instead, authorities said, Mr Oropesa (38) retrieved an AR-15 rifle from his house and walked over to Garcia’s home, where he killed his 8-year-old son, wife and three other people.
“I have no words to describe what happened,” Mr Garcia said in Spanish at the vigil. “We are alive but there is no life. I was able to escape by a miracle.”
[ Five dead in Texas shooting, armed suspect on the loose — ABC NewsOpens in new window ]
Earlier on Sunday law enforcement officials conceded that they did not know the suspect’s whereabouts, adding that they considered him to be a threat.
“We do not know where he is,” James Smith, the special agent in charge of the FBI in the Houston area, told reporters at a news conference. “We do not have any tips right now as to where he may be. Right now, we have zero leads.”
Authorities said that more than 200 officers, including state troopers, were looking for Mr Oropesa. They have offered an $80,000 reward for information leading to his capture.
Sheriff Greg Capers of San Jacinto County said that there were 10 people inside the house at the time of the shooting. He said that Mr Oropesa had been drinking when Garcia asked him to stop firing his gun. Sheriff Capers said that Mr Oropesa said, “I’ll do what I want to in my front yard”.
Sheriff Capers said authorities believed they had recovered the AR-15 used in the shooting, but Mr Oropesa could still be carrying another weapon. Authorities said they had found additional guns in his home as well as a phone.
The FBI identified those killed as Mr Garcia’s wife, Sonia Guzman (25); Diana Velazquez Alvarado (21); Juliza Molina Rivera, (31); Jose Jonathan Casarez (18); and Daniel Enrique Laso (8).
Two of the women were killed while protecting Mr Garcia’s baby and 2-year-old daughter by embracing them and covering them with clothing, Mr Garcia said at the vigil. – This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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