Texas Shooting: Women Used Their Bodies to Shield Children, Victims Shot Above the Neck | 10 Points

A Texas man is at large after he fatally shot five peopleincluding an 8-year-old boy, in a Friday night rampage that started with a noise complaint about gunfire.

The suspect, identified as 38-year-old Francisco Oropeza, remained at large more than 18 hours after the shooting and authorities warned that he might still be armed.

The incident happened on Friday midnight in Cleveland, north of Houston, when neighbours asked the suspect to stop shooting the rife in his yard because a baby was trying to sleep. The suspect then walked into the neighbour’s house and started shooting.

Here is all you need to know about the shooting:

1. A total of 10 people were at the property at the time of shooting. The adults were declared dead at the scene while an eight-year-old died at a hospital.
2. Multiple people were shot around the residence, San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said. Two women victims, who died in the shooting, used their bodies to shield two young children who survived. Later, the two victims were found in a bedroom laying over two children, who were unharmed.
3. A total of three children found covered in blood in the home were taken to a hospital but found to be uninjured, police said.
4. The victims were shot above the neck at close range – “almost execution style,” according to the police.
5. The gunman is believed to have been using an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. Police are using dogs and a drone in the hunt for the suspect, who is believed to be hiding in a nearby forest.
6. Thought the authorities tracked the suspect Francisco Oropeza’s cell phone, but found it abandoned, along with his clothes. A local court has issued an arrest warrant for the suspect and assigned a $5 million dollar bond.
7. FBI spokesperson Christina Garza said investigators do not believe everyone at the home were members of a single family. 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.
8. These have been at least 18 shootings across the US since January 1 that left four or more people dead, according to The Associated Press database.
9. Moreover, there have been at least 174 mass shootings in the US this year, where four or more people were injured or killed, according to CNN.
10. Texas has confronted multiple mass shootings in recent years, including last year’s attack at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde; a racist attack at an El Paso Walmart in 2019; and a gunman opening fire at a church in the tiny town of Sutherland Springs in 2017.

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