Francisco Oropesa, the man on the run after allegedly killing five Texas family members, is a Mexican national who was previously deported four times, a source familiar with the investigation told ABC News.
Oropesa, 38, was deported on March 17, 2009, after an immigration judge ordered his removal, the source said. He unlawfully returned to the U.S., and he was then apprehended and deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in September 2009, January 2012 and July 2016, the source said.
Oropesa had also been convicted in Montgomery County, Texas, in January 2012 of driving while intoxicated and served time in jail, the source said.
The mass shooting unfolded Friday night after neighbors asked Oropesa to stop shooting his gun in the yard of his home in Cleveland, about 50 miles north of Houston, investigators said.
The San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office received a call around 11:31 p.m. Friday detailing harassment, Sheriff Greg Capers told reporters on Sunday. When deputies arrived at the home, they found five victims at the property, Capers said.
Three minors who were found uninjured but covered in blood, authorities said. Two of the female victims were discovered in the bedroom lying on top of two surviving children, authorities told ABC News.
Oropesa is still on the run and is a “threat to the community,” FBI Houston field office agent James Smith told reporters on Saturday.
The FBI has “zero leads” on where Oropesa could be, Smith said Sunday while announcing an $80,000 reward for information leading to his capture.
Investigators described Oropesa as a 5-foot-8 Hispanic man with a goatee and short black hair. He was last seen wearing jeans, a black shirt and work boots.
The neighbors had asked the suspect to stop shooting his gun in the front yard because there was a baby trying to sleep, Capers told ABC Houston station KTRK. (ABC)
