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Texas police launch manhunt for gunman who killed five neighbors

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The police in Texas, USA, has launched a manhunt for a gunman identified as Francisco Oropeza, who shot and killed five of his neighbors, including an 8-year-old child, in their Texas home after one asked him to stop firing rounds in his yard.

San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers, told a press conference on Saturday night that the 38-year-old Oropeza, was armed with an AR-15 semi-automatic black rifle when he went to the home in the Trails End area in Cleveland around 11:30 p.m and shot at the victims before fleeing the scene.

“There was two females in the bedroom that were laying on top of juvenile children and, my opinion, to keep them children safe. All of them were headshot in an execution style,” he said.

Capers identified the five people killed as Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25; Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18; and Daniel Enrique Laso, 8, all immigrants from Honduras.

He added that an arrest warrant was issued for the suspect, who is a Mexican national, and a judge assigned a $5 million bond as he faces five counts of murder.

Read Also:US prosecutors seek death penalty for woman who killed Texas lady, stole unborn child

Capers said that the suspect was allegedly known to fire his gun in the front yard of his home.

“Deputies have been to the residence in the past based on similar complaints about open gunfire.

“Shortly before the shooting, one of the victims came outside and told the suspect that their baby was trying to sleep.

“This man takes it upon himself to walk out of his residence with a loaded AR-15, walk out into the street, walk down the street, walk into that man’s driveway, walk up into that man’s house and start shooting.

“To walk in the door and see four, and then a baby at the hospital, being the fifth one, is grotesque,” he said, stating that authorities believe as many as 15 rounds were shot inside the victims’ home.

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