A tip led authorities to a residence in a nearby town where they found the suspect hiding beneath laundry, officials said. The man was suspected of killing five neighbors in Texas and leading multiple agencies on a four-day manhunt.
On Friday, violence broke out after the suspect's neighbors implored him to stop firing his semiautomatic rifle in his yard because it kept their infant awake. Instead, he reloaded and entered the residence of Honduran immigrants, killing five, including an 8-year-old boy, according to authorities.
Francisco Oropesa, 38, was identified as the suspect. According to immigration officials, he had been deported from the United States four times since 2009.
Sheriff Greg Capers of San Jacinto County told reporters that officials acted on a tip from an unidentified individual now eligible for an $80,000 reward for information leading to the suspect's arrest.
Capers stated that Oropesa would be detained on a $5 million bail for five counts of murder.
The victims were murdered in Cleveland, Texas, and the suspect was apprehended in Cut and Shoot, Texas, approximately 17 miles (27 kilometers) to the west. Both are approximately 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Houston.
The apprehension occurred during a four-day manhunt in which the FBI collaborated with law enforcement agencies nationwide and in Mexico.
As of Sunday, the suspect's trail had gone cold, but upon receiving the information, multiple agencies quickly mobilized, joining the sheriff's department and the FBI.
Approximately one hour and fifteen minutes after receiving the report, officers from the U.S. Marshals Service, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the U.S. Border Patrol Tactical Unit made the arrest, according to FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul.
The majority of the victims sustained head wounds. According to Capers, all ten residents of the address were from Honduras, but they were not all family members.
The victims were identified as Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25; Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18; and Daniel Enrique Laso, 8.
