The uncle of a 9-year-old killed in a mass shooting outside Houston last week said the boy used to ride bicycles to a school bus stop with the child of the suspect, according to a report.
The whereabouts of fugitive Francisco Oropesa remained unknown Tuesday following the massacre in Cleveland, Texas, on Friday. FBI Houston said Sunday evening that more than 250 law enforcement officers from over a dozen agencies were actively searching for the Mexican national.
“My nephew, he always would take his bicycle to where the school bus would stop,” Ramiro Guzman, the uncle of victim Daniel Enrique Laso, told NBC News. “Sometimes they went together, my nephew and his child.”
“They always went on their bicycles together. They were like friends,” he added. “And he killed him.”
TEXAS MAN WHOSE WIFE, SON WERE KILLED IN MASS SHOOTING RECOUNTS EVENTS THAT LED UP TO TRAGEDY
Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25, and Daniel Enrique Laso, 9, who are two of the victims in the Cleveland, Texas shooting. (Fox News)
Neighbors had allegedly asked Oropesa to stop firing his rifle in his yard late Friday so that a baby could sleep. The 38-year-old suspect, who authorities identified from video at the scene and by a Mexican consulate card, then entered the neighboring home and opened fire on five of the 10 people inside, allegedly killing the victims execution-style.
Guzman told NBC News that he survived the attack by hiding in a closet with his wife and child, where he called 911.
When he emerged from his hiding place, Guzman said he saw his nephew wounded as well as the slain body of his sister and Daniel’s mother, 25-year-old Sonia Argentina Guzman.
Mass shooting survivor Wilson Garcia talks to the media after a vigil for his son, Daniel Enrique Laso, on Sunday, April 30, 2023, in Cleveland, Texas. Garcia’s son and wife were killed in the shooting Friday night. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
“My nephew, despite everything, I thought he would survive,” Guzman told NBC News. “He was writhing on the floor and I said, ‘Oh my God, he’s still alive.'”
“To see her the way I did, it’s unbelievable,” he added. “I still think maybe she’s going to call me, that I’m going to get to see her again and she’d be like always, strong and supporting us through everything.”
Guzman also said to NBC News that Sonia was “the best sister” and that Daniel’s parents brought him to Texas “for a better future” when he was 3 years old.
Francisco Oropeza is suspected of killing five people near Cleveland, Texas, on Friday, April 28, 2023. (Fox News)
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“Everyone comes here with a plan, with a goal,” Guzman added, noting that his mother, who still lives in Honduras, hasn’t seen Sonia for a decade. “Now my mom is going to see my sister, but in the worst way. She’s going to see my nephew in the worst way.”
The other adults found deceased at the scene were Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21, Julisa Molina Rivera, 31, and Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18. Daniel was airlifted to a hospital, where he was declared deceased.
Fox News’ Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
