The man accused of killing five people in an “execution-style” shooting Friday night is in the country illegally and remains at large, Fox News Digital reported.
“I have no words to describe what happened,” Wilson Garcia said in Spanish at a vigil Sunday for his wife, son, and others who died in the shooting, the New York Times reported.
“We are alive but there is no life. … I was able to escape by a miracle.”
The gunman who allegedly took the life of Garcia’s wife and son shot and killed five people in a Cleveland, Texas, home. Francisco Oropesa remains on the loose, and authorities say they have “zero leads.”
The people killed in the shooting include 25-year-old Sonia Guzman, 21-year-old Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 31-year-old Juliza Molina Rivera, 18-year-old Jose Jonathan Casarez, and 8-year-old Daniel Enrique Laso, the New York Times reported.
“He could be anywhere now,” San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers told reporters Saturday. Authorities having found his cell phone and clothing and believe the Oropesa slipped past their established search area, according to NBC News.
Oropesa is in the United States illegally, Fox News Digital reported. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials reportedly told the outlet the man has been deported previously and re-entered the county illegally “multiple times.” His most recent encounter with ICE was in 2016.
The FBI’s Houston-area office released multiple photos of the suspect Saturday, along with a correction to the spelling of his last name. The set of photos includes a close-up of a distinctive tattoo on his left forearm. The tattoo depicts a woman with shoulder-length hair wearing a headdress.
The FBI also noted that it mistakenly disseminated a photo of Oropesa with a blue backdrop that has since been removed from the agency’s social media accounts. The agency requested that photo not be used.
A total of $80,000 is offered for the suspect’s capture, CBS News reported. Texas Governor Greg Abbot (R) offered $50,000, and some counties added $5,000 on top of that. The FBI is offering $25,000.
“We’re asking everyone for your help so we can bring this suspect — or this monster, I will call him — to justice,” James Smith, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Houston-area office, said in a press conference.
“He is out there, and he’s a threat to the community,” Smith also said, adding that the suspect is considered armed and dangerous.
As the multi-agency search for Francisco Oropesa continues, the FBI warns people against approaching him. People with tips about his whereabouts should call the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office at 936-653-4367.
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