CLEVELAND, Texas – Day three of a manhunt for an alleged mass murderer ended without him in custody and a community in San Jacinto County practicing vigilance.
Authorities were asking anyone who happened to see Francisco Oropesa, to not to approach the “armed and dangerous” suspect. Instead, call 911 immediately.
On Monday, about 50 mourners showed up at the shooting scene to create a memorial.
Some brought balloons, others came with candles.
One little boy said he came with a handwritten letter to his best friend Daniel, the youngest victim murdered at a Cleveland residence over the weekend.
”I was super sad because my friend [Daniel] died,” said the young boy, Aaron Muniz. “We used to play soccer at the bus stop, and he used to be good at [being the] goalie, and I liked him on my team.”
He said it’s what pushed him to write a letter.
”I wanted to show him how good I was a friend of him,” Aaron said.
Much of the Trails End community, where the shooting happened, was overwhelmed with grief.
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“I couldn’t imagine someone kicking in my door, shooting me in front of my family. It has to be deeper than what they’re saying,” said neighbor Annalisha Tiller.
Investigators said that after being asked by a neighbor to stop shooting his gun because a newborn was sleeping, 38-year-old Oropesa went next door with an AR15, shooting Daniel, along with his mother Sonia Guzman, Diana Alvarado, Julissa Rivera, and Jose Casarez.
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”They didn’t shoot back, and they didn’t have a gun. The majority of the residents, they shoot back and they got their own ARs,” said neighbor, Dale Tiller.
As anger and frustration brewed in the rural community, Friday’s mass shooting warranted attention at The White House.
”The president was briefed on the shooting on Saturday morning, and he and the first lady are praying for those killed in the attack, for their surviving loved ones, and for the broader Cleveland community,” a spokesperson said.
Anyone with information on Oropesa’s whereabouts are asked to call the FBI hotline at 1-800- Call-FBI, then press option 1.
KPRC 2 asked the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office about claims of the multiple previous calls to investigate Oropesa for shooting in his yard but had not heard back as of this writing.
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