Suspect accused of killing 5 neighbors in Texas caught after 4-day-long manhunt

By Darren Lyn

HOUSTON, US (AA) - The suspect accused of killing five of his neighbors in the state of Texas was captured Tuesday night after a four-day-long manhunt.

Francisco Oropesa, 38, was arrested in the city of Cut and Shoot, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of Houston.

Authorities said they received tip calls from as far away as Wyoming, Florida, Oklahoma and Maryland, with the final tip coming in on the FBI hotline Tuesday at 5.15 p.m. CST. Oropesa was apprehended just over an hour later at 6.30 p.m.

"He was caught hiding in a closet underneath some laundry," said San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers during a news conference.

"The bottom line is we now have this man in custody."

Oropesa allegedly shot his five neighbors execution-style last Friday in the city of Cleveland with an AR-15 style assault rifle after one of them complained that gunshots coming from his adjacent property were keeping their infant from sleeping.

After the massacre, Oropesa went on the run, with nearly 250 officers and agents from the FBI, US Marshals Service and local law enforcement agencies taking part in the manhunt, which kept residents on edge until his capture.

"(They) worked nonstop to bring this person to justice, to bring a sense of justice to the victims and also a sense of security to...the San Jacinto County community," said Asst. Special Agent Jimmy Paul of the FBI’s Houston Division.

Oropesa is charged with five counts of first-degree murder and is being held on a $5 million bond.​​​​​​​

"Everybody played a very, very integral part in the arrest and capture of this coward," said Capers. "They can rest easy now because he is behind bars and he will live out his life behind bars for killing those five."