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May 3, 2023 · Francisco Oropeza, the man accused of gunning down five people in an "execution-style" mass shooting in Cleveland, Texas, was taken into custody Tuesday evening after a multiday manhunt, officials said.
- 2 min
- Emily Shapiro
- Overview
- Dozens of officers swarmed house where suspect was found under hiding laundry
- The murder weapon
CUT AND SHOOT, Texas — Hours after the wife of the man accused of killing five of his neighbors in their Texas home was arrested along with several other people, a judge Wednesday ordered the suspect to be held on $7.5 million bond.
Bond was set at $1.5 million each for five counts of murder at Francisco Oropesa’s magistrate hearing at the San Jacinto County Jail, District Attorney Todd Dillon said.
Oropesa had an interpreter for the hearing and “said very little,” Judge Randy Ellisor said.
Earlier in the day, San Jacinto County Chief Sheriff’s Deputy Tim Kean announced that several people had been arrested. He didn’t publicly identify them, saying the number was fewer than five.
Oropesa’s wife, Divimara Lamar Nava, 52, was among them, records show.
She listed as being in custody at the Montgomery County Jail after she was arrested just before 3 a.m. (4 a.m. ET) on a charge of hindering apprehension of a known felon, according to records. She was being held in lieu of $250,000 bond.
Kean described Oropesa’s demeanor as “calm” Wednesday morning and said he's “probably in this jail right now having a hot breakfast.”
Oropesa, 38, was arrested in the city of Cut and Shoot on Tuesday evening, ending a four-day manhunt.
He was charged in connection with the shooting Friday in which officials said he killed five people — including a 9-year-old boy — after a neighbor asked him to stop firing his rifle because an infant was trying to sleep.
A tip led authorities to a house less than 20 miles from the site of the shooting in Cleveland, Texas, and he was found hiding in a closet underneath laundry, officials said Tuesday night.
In the Cut and Shoot neighborhood where Oropesa was arrested, neighbors said Wednesday that their street was swarmed with armed law enforcement personnel and unmarked vehicles and that a helicopter hovered above.
Hector Dominguez, 53, who lives next door to the home where authorities said Oropesa was found, recounted that he saw about 20 to 30 officers converge in the back of his neighbor’s home and about 50 more in the front.
Kean said at the morning news conference that officials may have the weapon used in the mass shooting, pending confirmation by ballistics testing.
Dillon said Wednesday afternoon that the murder weapon was found Saturday morning at the suspect's residence. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is tracing where it came from.
It is illegal for Oropesa, as a Mexican national, to possess a firearm. In the U.S., one must be a citizen to buy firearms.
Oropesa has been deported four times, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He was removed from the U.S. twice in 2009 and once in 2012 and 2016, ICE said.
The small, insular neighborhood of Trails End, where Friday night's carnage unfolded, proved very cooperative with law enforcement, Dillon said. Within the first hours of the manhunt, residents opened their doors for officer searches to ensure Oropesa wasn't hiding inside.
Antonio Planas reported from Cut and Shoot, Texas; Jon Schuppe from Maplewood, New Jersey; and Marlene Lenthang from New York City.
- 2 min
- Marlene Lenthang,Jon Schuppe,Antonio Planas
May 3, 2023 · Francisco Oropesa has been on the run since he allegedly killed five people in Cleveland, Texas, on Friday. He was found Tuesday hiding under laundry in a closet, officials said.
- 3 min
- Jon Schuppe,Marlene Lenthang,Phil Helsel
May 3, 2023 · The suspected gunman, Mexican national Francisco Oropesa, was caught Tuesday and has been charged with five counts of murder after the mass shooting Friday night, authorities said.
May 3, 2023 · Texas massacre suspect Francisco Oropesa was formally charged with five counts of murder during his first court appearance Wednesday, Judge Randy Ellisor said. He’s accused of fatally...
May 2, 2023 · The hunt ended on Tuesday when heavily armed state and federal officers found Mr. Oropesa, 38, in a house a few miles from the site in San Jacinto County where the shooting took place on...
May 2, 2023 · The suspect, Francisco Oropesa, was found in a house just miles from the home in Cleveland, Texas, where the killings took place, the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office said.
