Texas husband says dying woman told him to throw himself out …
Texas husband who survived massacre reveals dying woman told him to throw himself out window to escape bullets 'because my children were already without their mom' - as FBI says it has NO leads on illegal migrant shooter
- Five people, including a nine-year-old boy, were killed in the shooting on Friday
- Francisco Oropesa, 38, is currently on the run with authorities hunting for him
- Officials have offered a £80,000 reward for anyone with information on Oropesa
By Emma James For Dailymail.Com[1]
Published: 14:28, 1 May 2023 | Updated: 15:31, 1 May 2023
A heartbroken father who lost his son and wife in a mass shooting said one of the victims begged him to save himself by jumping out the window - as the FBI[2] say they have 'no leads' on the illegal Mexican migrant.
Francisco Oropesa, 38, opened fire on his neighbors' home in Cleveland, Texas[3], on Friday night after they asked him to shoot his gun on the opposite side of his property.
Wilson Garcia said that he asked Oropesa to stop firing his gun because it kept his one-month-old baby awake, before the migrant killed Garcia's wife Sonia Guzman, 29, and their son Daniel Enrique Laso-Guzman, 9.
Oropesa, who had been deported from the US five times, also shot dead Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21, Julissa Molina Rivera, 31, and Jose Jonathan Caserez, 18, during the incident.
Garcia says one of the dying women urged him to jump out the window because his other two children needed a parent. He lived next door to Oropesa for three years without incident.
Wilson Garcia asked Oropesa to stop firing his gun before the migrant killed Garcia's wife Sonia Guzman, 29, and their son Daniel Enrique Laso-Guzman, 9
Francisco Oropesa, a 38-year-old Mexican, is on the run after shooting dead five people in Cleveland, Texas on Friday night
He told CNN: 'She saw when my wife fell to the ground and was dying, and she told me to throw myself out the window because my children were already without their mother.
'I have no words to describe what happened that night. I feel like I'm not alive, but at the same time I am.
'What happened was horrible and ugly.
I lived through it because I was there and managed to miraculously escape.
'My nine-year-old son and my wife died, and two people who died protecting my two-and-a-half-year-old daughter.
'They protected my one-and-a-half-month-old son, covering him with a lot of clothes so that the murderer would not kill him too. Imagine how we feel right now.'
Garcia confirmed he and two others went to try to speak to Oropesa about the noise from the gun, but was told that it was his property so he could do what he wanted.
Police were contacted by Garcia's wife five times before the shooting, but did not arrive until after the shooting.
Oropesa has not yet been apprehended by authorities - who have offered an £80,000 reward for anyone with information on his whereabouts.
Garcia says one of the dying women urged him to jump out the window because his other two children needed a parent. He lived next door to Oropesa for three years without incident
Garcia's wife Sonia Guzman, 29, (right) and their son Daniel Enrique Laso-Guzman, 9, (left) were both shot dead in the incident
Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21, (left) and Julissa Molina Rivera, 31, (right) were both shot dead by the gunman
Texas Governor Greg Abbot has offered £50,000 for his capture, and other counties' have chipped in £5,000, with the FBI offering £25,000.
It comes after the FBI admitted they had no leads in the 'execution-style' slayings and have been going door to door to ask for information on Oropesa - who is believed to have entered the country illegally.
San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers and FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge (SAC) James Smith confirmed that their search, which included 200 officers, has yielded 'zero leads' so far.
Smith said: 'We consider him armed and dangerous.; He's out there, and he's a threat to the community.
'I can pretty much can guarantee you he's contacted some of his friends.
'We just don't know which friends they are, and that is what we need from the public is any type of information.
'We cannot continue down this path until he is apprehended and arrested.
We're asking everyone to bring this monster to justice.'
Garcia broke down at a memorial for his family and friends on Sunday as police continue to search for the fugitive gunman
Jose Jonathan Caserez, 18, also died during the incident which saw five people killed including a nine-year-old boy
Texas Governor Greg Abbot has offered £50,000 for his capture, and other counties' have chipped in £5,000, with the FBI offering £25,000
Police were contacted by Garcia's wife five times before the shooting, but did not arrive until after the shooting.
Pictured: Daniel Enrique Laso and his mother
Oropesa's wife has been interviewed multiple times and is in 'constant contact' with investigators, according to authorities.
Garcia added: 'We had company. We were going to make something to eat, the guy, came out and he was shooting.
'I said to my wife: 'Get inside, because this man has already loaded his gun'. I told her 'I don't think he is coming here to just threaten us.'
'Then my wife said, 'You should go inside, because I don't think he will shoot me.
I am a woman.'
'She said, 'I'm going to stay here, I'm going to stay in the door.' He just came and shot, that is, without saying anything. Bam. And my wife went down.
'I don't know what to tell you.
He might have been intoxicated. Might have been drunk. But everything he did... he knew what he was doing.
'Because a drunk person who can't even stand up anymore, I don't think would have grabbed a gun and loaded it and started shooting.
San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said on Sunday 'My heart is with this nine-year-old boy.
I don't care if he was here legally. I don't care if he was here illegally. He was in my county'
Honduran flags are seen decorating a tree where the five people were shot and killed, as the Foreign Ministry prepares to repatriate their remains.
'He discovered that some of the people escaped and came back to finish them off and shot them in the head.
When he didn't get us, he came back and shoot everybody else in the head.
'I never thought that he would shoot. Then he went room to room, looking for people.
'He couldn't catch up to me. The bullets were hitting everywhere.
I never had a problem with him. I can't believe what he did.'
The FBI initially used the wrong photo in their wanted poster, but on Sunday corrected it, and also corrected the spelling of the shooters last name.
All those killed were Honduran nationals, with the Honduran Foreign Ministry preparing to repatriate their remains.
In a statement, they said: 'The Government of Honduras deeply regrets the loss of these valuable lives and accompanies all their loved ones in their pain.
'We demand that the pertinent authorities arrest the perpetrator of this terrible event and apply the full weight of the law.'
Emotional locals sobbed at a memorial for the five victims, with the adults protecting other children in the property who survived
FBI agents are seen at the neighborhood in Cleveland, Texas where Oropesa shot and killed five people
Enrique Reina, Honduras' Secretary of Foreign Relations and International Cooperation, offered his condolences to the families of the San Jacinto County shooting victims.
He said: 'Our condolences to the families of the victims of this terrible crime. We demand that the full weight of the law be applied against the person(s) responsible for this crime.'
Police had been called to the home before for reports about the firing of guns, but nothing was done.
Oropesa has a large tattoo on the inside of his forearm of what appears to be a female Aztec, wearing a headdress.
Police have found an abandoned cell phone and articles of clothing lying around and tracking dogs from the Texas Department of Correction 'picked up a scent and then lost that scent in the water.'
All of the victims were shot from the 'neck up', with two found in a bedroom laying over two children in an apparent attempt to shield them.
Police had been called to the home before for reports about the firing of guns, but nothing was done
A sign nearby warns people that the owner is armed
Officials said there were ten people in the house, including three children who were not hurt.
Rene Arevalo Sr., who lives close to Oropesa's house, said he heard gunshots around midnight but was unperturbed, as gunfire is normal in the neighborhood.
'It's a normal thing people do around here, especially on Fridays after work,' Arevalo said.
'They get home and start drinking in their backyards and shooting out there.'
He told ABC 13[4] that Oropesa threatened to kill his dog after it got loose in the neighborhood.
His dog chased a pit bull in Oropesa's truck.
'I tell my wife all the time, 'Stay away from the neighbors.
Don't argue with them.
You never know how they're going to react,'' Arevalo said.
'I tell her that because Texas is a state where you don't know who has a gun and who is going to react that way.'