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Man kills 5 in Texas, including child, after neighbours complained about gunfire

  • Police said they were searching for suspect Francisco Oropeza following the overnight shooting in Cleveland, north of Houston
  • ‘Everyone that was shot was shot from the neck up, almost execution-style,’ San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said

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The scene of a mass shooting in Cleveland, Texas, US early on Saturday. Photo: KTRK via AP
A man in Texas shot his next-door neighbours, killing an eight-year-old child and four others inside the house, with a rifle after the family asked him to stop firing rounds in his garden because they were trying to sleep, police said on Saturday.
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San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers told reporters at the scene that police were still searching for 38-year-old Francisco Oropeza following the overnight shooting in the town of Cleveland, about 45 miles (72km) north of Houston. He said the search area could now be as large as “10 or 20 miles” as the gunman remained at large more than 15 hours after the shooting on Friday night.

“Everyone that was shot was shot from the neck up, almost execution-style,” Capers said during an earlier news conference at the scene.

Police respond to the scene of a shooting early on Saturday in Cleveland, Texas. Photo: KTRK via AP
Police respond to the scene of a shooting early on Saturday in Cleveland, Texas. Photo: KTRK via AP

Capers said there were 10 people in the house and that no one else was injured. He said two of the victims, all believed to be from Honduras, were found laying 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,” according to Capers, who said a total of three blood-covered children were found in the home but were determined to be uninjured after being taken to a hospital.

Capers said two other people were examined at the scene and released.

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The confrontation followed family members walking up to the fence and asking the suspect to stop shooting rounds, Capers said. The suspect responded by telling them that it was his property, according to Capers, and that one person in the house got a video of the suspect walking up to the front door with the rifle.

Three of the victims were women and one was a man. Their names were not released. Capers said the victims were between the ages of eight and about 40 years old.

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