What We Know About the 5 Victims of the Shooting in Cleveland, Texas
Police in Cleveland, Texas located and arrested accused shooter Francisco Oropesa in the early morning hours of Wednesday, May 3. Oropesa allegedly shot and killed five of his neighbors, including a 9-year-old boy, after they asked him to stop shooting his gun near their home.
Local law enforcement initially struggled to apprehend Oropesa because of tension within the Latino community. Some locals feared questions about their immigration status and refused to speak with the police. However, an anonymous tipster called the FBI with information about Oropesa’s location.
Police think Francisco Oropesa shot five people in Cleveland, Texas
After discovering the bodies of five Honduran nationals in Cleveland, Texas, law enforcement engaged in a four-day manhunt to locate Francisco Oropesa, a neighbor who fled his home after the shooting.
The family reportedly asked him to stop shooting his rifle so close to their home and expressed concern for an infant living with them. When Oropesa refused, the neighbors said they would call the police if he didn’t stop.
Soon after the confrontation, police think Oropesa entered the home with an AR-15 rifle and killed five people inside the home, execution style. Three children survived the shooting. However, Oropesa killed five people inside the home:
- Obdulia Molina Rivera, 31
- Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21
- Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18
- Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25
- Daniel Enrique Laso Guzman, 9
Police say Oropesa went through the house looking for each member of the family and discovered
In an interview with ABC News, Alvarado’s partner Jefrinson Josué Rivera said, “She gave everything for her children. She never had issues with anyone. She was happy, humble and caring. She was so attentive to her children, her friends, and to me.”
Daniel’s school district held a vigil for him and his family on April 30, according to a Facebook post.
Governor Greg Abbott focused on the victims’ immigration status
Many criticized Texas Governor Greg Abbott for his response to the shooting. When he announced that police would be engaging in a manhunt to find Oropesa, he described him and the five victims as “illegal immigrants.”
However, family members confirmed the immigration status of at least one person inside the home, verifying that they were a permanent legal resident. Oropesa, on the other hand, is not an American citizen. Law enforcement deported him on four separate occasions starting in 2009.
The tension caused by Abbott’s comments spread into the local Latino community. Some members of the community refused to talk to police for fear of inquiries into their immigration status. Overall, Latinos tend to call the police less for this reason, even in cases of domestic violence.
Maria Cordero, who works as an immigration policy strategist with the ACLU of Texas told CNN that crime would continue “as long as law enforcement doesn’t fulfill their mission of protecting the community and preventing crime” instead of “doing a job that it’s not theirs.”
Of the roughly 8,000 people in Cleveland, Texas, 31% of them identify as Latino.
