Texas: Manhunt underway as boy, 8, among five killed in shooting

Police are searching for a man suspected of killing five of his neighbours after an argument

Police in the US are searching for a man after five people, including an eight-year-old boy, were killed in a shooting at a house in Texas.

San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said authorities are searching for 38-year-old Francisco Oropesa, following the shooting in the town of Cleveland. He warned that the suspect might still be armed.

Officers believe Oropeza may have fled towards a forest a few miles from the scene. Sherrif Capers said clothes and a phone were found while combing a rural area, but that tracking dogs had lost the scent.

An AR-style rifle was used in the attack, which happened shortly before midnight local time on Friday, he added.

The shooting occurred after the family asked their neighbour to stop firing rounds in his yard because they were trying to sleep, the Associated Press reports. He then allegedly went next door with the rifle and began firing at the neighbours.

There were ten people in the house at the time of the shooting, Sherrif Capers said, some of whom had just moved there earlier this week.

FBI spokesperson Christina Garza said investigators do not believe everyone at the home were members of a single family.

The victims have been identified as Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25, Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21, Julisa Molina Rivera, 31, Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18, and Daniel Enrique Laso, 8.

Sheriff Greg Capers said one of the victims had earlier asked the man to stop shooting in his yard. Video credit: KTRK

Sherrif Capers said two of the victims, all believed to be from Honduras, were found laying over two children in a bedroom.

Two other victims were found by the front door. Eight-year-old Daniel Enrique Laso was found in the front room and later died in hospital.

Sherrif Capers said three other "blood-covered" children were found in the home and taken to a hospital. They were uninjured.

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

Across the US since January 1, there have been at least 18 shootings that left four or more people dead, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today, in partnership with Northeastern University.

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.

Republican leaders in Texas have rejected calls for new firearm restrictions, including this year over the protests of several families whose children were killed in Uvalde.

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