The FBI confirmed that more than 250 law enforcement officers are on the hunt for an illegal immigrant who shot and killed five people Friday.
Francisco Oropesa, 38, opened fire after his neighbors in Cleveland, Texas, asked him to stop shooting the gun in his backyard.
He marched into their home and pointed his gun at his neighbors, killing five people between the ages of eight and 31.
The FBI initially used the wrong photo in their wanted poster, but corrected it this Sunday.
They also corrected the spelling of his last name, which was originally Oropeza.
A $55,000 reward was increased to $80,000.
Francisco Oropesa, a 38-year-old Mexican, is on the run after he shot and killed five people Friday night in Cleveland, Texas
“We consider him armed and dangerous,” said James Smith, the lead FBI agent in Houston.
“He’s out there and a threat to the community.”
Smith admitted that they initially published the wrong photo, but corrected it once they realized their mistake.
“In an investigation like this, we get a mountain of information,” he said.
“It was a mistake on our part. We are now 100 percent sure that we have the right photo.’
Oropesa, a Mexican citizen, had been deported several times, sources told Fox News.
His last meeting with immigration authorities was in 2016.
He has a large tattoo on the inside of his forearm of what appears to be a female Aztec, wearing a headdress.
FBI agents are seen in the Cleveland, Texas neighborhood where Oropesa shot and killed five people
Five people – the youngest only eight years old – were shot dead in this house on Friday night
A nearby sign warns people that the owner is armed
Honduran flags decorate a tree where the five people were shot
Police found an abandoned cell phone and items of clothing lying around, and Texas Department of Correction sniffer dogs “pitted a scent and then lost that scent in the water,” San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said. .
“He could be anywhere now,” Capers said.
Oropesa allegedly shot the victims after one of them asked him to stop firing bullets outside his home just before midnight.
The police had previously been alerted to the home for reports of firearms being fired. It’s not illegal to fire guns in your own yard, but it remains unclear why officers didn’t ask for a permit – which he, as an illegal resident, couldn’t have.
The victims have been identified as Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25; Daniel Enrique Laso Guzman, 8; Diana Velázquez Alvarado, 21; Julia Molina Rivera, 31; and Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18.
They were all Honduran nationals who had been shot “from the neck up” in their home, Capers said.
He said two of the victims were found in a bedroom lying above two children in an apparent attempt to protect them.
Capers said there were 10 people in the house, including three children who were not injured.
FBI officials are pictured Sunday as the manhunt continues
San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers is seen wearing the hat next to James Smith, FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge, on Sunday
Some of the home’s residents had moved out earlier this week.
Rene Arevalo Sr., who lives close to Oropesa’s home, said he heard gunshots around midnight but was unperturbed, as gunfire is common in the neighborhood.
“It’s normal what people do here, especially on Fridays after work,” Arevalo said.
“They come home and start drinking in their backyard and shooting out there.”
He told ABC 13 that Oropesa threatened to kill his dog after it was let loose nearby.
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 will react,” Arevalo said.
“I tell her that because Texas is a state where you don’t know who has a gun and who will react that way.”