As the search for the Texas gunman who allegedly killed five of his neighbours including a young boy entered its third day with false alarms and few apparent leads, as of Monday (May 1). Meanwhile, a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement source told CNN that the suspect had entered the country illegally and been deported by immigration officials at least four times.
Suspect was an illegal immigrant
A report by CNN, citing the ICE source also said that the suspect identified by ICE as Francisco Oropesa Perez-Torres was first removed by an immigration judge back in 2009. However, the suspect’s current immigration status remains unclear and it is also not known how long he was in the US since last deported.
“At an unknown time and location, Perez-Torres unlawfully reentered the United States, and was apprehended and removed several more times by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations in September 2009, January 2012, and July 2016,” the ICE source who was not named told CNN, on Monday.
In a statement, the ICE also said that it identified the suspect as a Mexican and confirmed that he was apprehended and deported several times. Oropesa was also convicted of driving while intoxicated in January 2012 in Montgomery County, Texas and sentenced to jail, said ICE, on Monday.
Meanwhile, the FBI agent on the scene near Houston acknowledged they have little to go on as of now and are widening the manhunt, reported the Associated Press. The news agency citing the suspect’s neighbours said they had lived on the street for years now and said Oropeza has been deported four times since 2009.
This comes as more than 250 law enforcement officials are involved in Oropesa’s manhunt, while the suspect, as per an FBI official, is considered armed and dangerous. However, despite the involvement of US Marshals, additional manpower, scent-tracking dogs, and even a total of $80,000 in reward money there is no sign of the suspect.
“I can tell you right now, we have zero leads,” James Smith, the FBI special agent in charge of the case, said Sunday. As of late afternoon Monday, there have been no updates from law enforcement while the trail had apparently gone cold a day prior.
What happened on Friday?
San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said on Saturday that the suspect stepped out of his house on Friday night and started shooting off rounds with an AR-15-style rifle in his yard. The shooting took place at a Cleveland, Texas, home after neighbours asked him to stop firing his rifle.
Wilson Garcia, the father of the one-month-old and two other men, had walked over to Oropesa’s yard to ask him to stop shooting so close to their home because their baby was sleeping, Garcia told CNN. At a vigil on Sunday, he had also recalled the terrifying efforts of hiding and shielding themselves and their children after Oropeza walked up to the home and began firing, killing his wife first at the front door.
The gunman who later came to Garcia’s home, shot his wife, Sonia Argentina Guzman, before killing three other adults (Diana Velazquez Alvarado (21), Julisa Molina Rivera (31), Jose Jonathan Casarez (18)) and Garcia’s son, Daniel Enrique Laso-Guzman (8). According to the FBI, They were all believed to be living in the house but were not members of a single family.
(With inputs from agencies)
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