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

Following an investigation where leads seemed to be few and far between, the prosecution of Francisco Oropesa is now moving swiftly following his arrest on Tuesday.

On Tuesday evening, the 38-year-old was moved to the Montgomery County, Texas, jail and charged with first-degree murder, NBC News reports.

Francisco Oropesa, the man accused of fatally shooting five people including a nine-year-old boy in Cleveland, Texas this past weekend has been deported from the US four times, according to reports.

Mr Oropesa, allegedly an undocumented immigrant from Mexico according to Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s office, had been apprehended and removed from the US several times, according to a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) source.

The source told The Independent that Mr Oropesa, whose full name is reportedly Francisco Oropesa Perez-Torres, was first removed by an immigration judge in March 2009.

The Independent reports:

After four days of searching, law enforcement captured 38-year-old Francisco Oropesa, who is suspected of fatally shooting five people in Cleveland, Texas.

Mr Oropesa allegedly entered his neighbor’s home armed with an assault-style rifle on Friday evening (28 April) after his neighbor, Wilson Garcia, asked him to stop shooting his gun in his backyard because it was keeping Mr Garcia’s baby awake.

The Independent reports:

A mother gunned down in a mass shooting in Texas on Friday was killed when she heroically confronted the gunman at the doorway to her home after the family had called 911 five times to report the suspect.

Wilson Garcia spoke out at a vigil in Cleveland, Texas, on Sunday night after his wife Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25, and nine-year-old son Daniel Enrique Laso-Guzman were among the five innocent victims killed in the shocking massacre.

Rachel Sharp reports:

One of the individuals arrested in connection to the Texas mass shooting has been named Domingo Castilla.

“Several” arrests were made after Francisco Oropesa was taken into custody – but officials have kept their identities under wraps.

San Jacinto County District Attorney Todd Dillon said at a press conference on Wednesday that one of the people arrested was Mr Oropesa’s friend Mr Castilla.

He was charged with marijuana possession but is expected to also face charges of obstructing Mr Oropesa’s apprehension, Mr Dillon said.

He was arrested on Tuesday in the Trail’s End neighborhood not far from where the five victims were shot dead.

Moments before nine-year-old Daniel Enrique Laso-Guzman was shot and killed, he was running to protect his mother from the shooter, his heartbroken father said.

Ariana Baio reports:

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:

Francisco Oropesa, the alleged shooter who killed five people in Cleveland, Texas, was captured after being on the run for four days.

The San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office released Mr Oropesa’s photo and information related to the arrest on Wednesday (3 May).

Francisco Oropesa, a Texas man who was wanted for allegedly shooting five people in the city of Cleveland on Friday, may have illegally bought an assault rifle used in the shootings.

Greg Capers, sheriff of San Jacinto County, said officials are investigating how the 38-year-old was able to obtain such a weapon given the man’s previous brushes with law enforcement, including being deported four times.

The sheriff said he thought the man may have been able to “buy it from somebody else on the street.”

A man who shares a similar name to the suspect in a deadly shooting in Cleveland, Texas, is now hiding in fear for his safety after the FBI wrongly identified him in a social media post.

The man, Francisco Oropeza, has the same last name as the true suspect Francisco Oropesa, but spells it was a “z” instead of an “s”.

The Independent reports: