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Texas neighbor shooting: $80,000 reward as 200 officers continue manhunt after boy, 8, among five killed

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Five people – including an eight-year-old boy – have been killed in a shooting in Texas after they asked a man to stop firing rounds in his garden because they were trying to sleep.

Authorities are still searching for the 38-year-old suspect after the shooting in the town of Cleveland, around 45 miles north of Houston, San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said.

The suspect, Francisco Oropesa, is a Mexican national who is believed to have fled the country.

An arrest warrant has been issued for him along with an $80,000 reward, issued by the governors of Texas and FBI.

Around 200 officers are now part of the manhunt.

The suspect faces five counts of murder.

“My sole intent and focus is capturing this suspect,” Mr Capers said.

“My heart is with the eight-year-old little boy. I don’t care if he was here [in the US] legally, or illegally, he was in my county.

“Five people died in my county, and that is where my heart is. Protecting my people to the best of my ability.”

He said that the suspect used an AR-style rifle in the shooting.

There were 10 people inside the house and no one else was injured, Mr Capers said.

Two of the victims, who are all believed to be from Honduras, were found lying over two children inside.

“The Honduran ladies that were laying over these children were doing it in such an effort as to protect the child,” Mr Capers said.

On Saturday night, authorities widened the search area to a 20-mile (32 km) radius as Oropeza – who was likely armed – had been on the run for more than 18 hours.

Clothes and a phone were found by officers combing a rural area with areas of forest but tracking dogs had lost the scent.

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.

As part of the hunt, officers found clothes and a phone while looking in a rural area that included forest, but police admitted tracking dogs eventually lost the scent.

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