Texas shooting - latest: Francisco Oropesa and partner ‘plotted escape to Mexico’ after Cleveland massacre

A neighbour of the suspected Cleveland, Texas shooter, Francisco Oropesa, told NBC News she bought a gun after last Friday’s mass shooting.

The neighbour, who asked only to be identified by her first name, Vanessa, said that her father used to shoot guns and drink with Mr Oropesa and “figured out” that Mr Oropesa was “not a good person.”

“And I’m glad he did, because what if it was us?” Vanessa said.

The neighbour also said she was not surprised Mr Oropesa managed to avoid law enforcement because he avoided police when being served with an alleged protective order last year

“He was hiding from the police that time, too,” she said.

The wife of accused mass shooter Francisco Oropesa is among the individuals arrested in connection to his capture, it has been confirmed.

The San Jacinto County sheriff told the Associated Press that Mr Oropesa’s partner was taken into custody following his capture in Cut and Shoot on Tuesday.

Earlier in the investigation, authorities said that Mr Oropesa’s partner was in “constant contact” with investigators trying to track him down.

On Tuesday, officials carried out surveillance on her and located Mr Oropesa hiding in a closet at a home connected to a family member.

While the suspected Cleveland, Texas, shooter Francisco Oropesa was hiding from authorities, his partner Divimara Lamar Nava was bringing him doughnuts and plotting their escape, all while seeming to cooperate with police, according to authorities.

Ariana Baio reports:

Suspected shooter Francisco Oropesa was not hiding at the home in Cut and Shoot the entire time he was on the run, according to authorities.

Mr Oropesa had been at large since Friday night when he allegedly shot dead five neighbours in Cleveland, Texas.

A huge manhunt was launched to find him.

It is not clear where the suspect was hiding prior to Tuesday’s capture.

On Tuesday, he was tracked down to a home tied to a family member. He was found hiding under a pile of laundry in a closet.

Suspected Cleveland shooter Francisco Oropesa was allegedly trying to flee to Mexico, according to a prosecutor.

During Mr Oropesa’s partner’s arraignment hearing, a prosecutor said Mr Oropesa asked his partner, Divimara Lamar Nava, to contact his cousins in the area to see if they could arrange for him to flee to Mexico, his native country.

However, the cousins refused to help.

The gunman accused of shooting dead five neighbours in Texas after they made a noise complaint against him has been captured hiding in a closet under laundry after four days on the run.

Francisco Oropesa, 38, was arrested in the city of Cut and Shoot, Texas, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on Tuesday evening.

Graeme Massie reports:

When five people were shot dead in their home over a noise complaint, Greg Abbott labelled the victims ‘illegal immigrants’. True to form with past shootings in his state, he made no mention of the role his own lax gun laws may have played.

Rachel Sharp reports:

The San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office announced on Wednesday evening they would be increasing suspected shooter Francisco Oropesa’s bond from $5m to $7.5m.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s office walked back on the language used in a statement about the immigration status of victims in the Cleveland, Texas mass shooting.

Spokesperson Renae Eze said in a statement provided to The Independent that the governor’s office regrets if the information they provided was “incorrect” or “detracted from the important goal of finding and arresting the criminal.”

Ariana Baio reports: