Manhunt for gunman who shot dead five neighbours in Texas enters its fourth day

Published

2 years ago

May 2, 2023

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The search for a suspected gunman has entered its fourth day after five neighbours were shot dead in Texas – as a grieving father has recalled the moment his wife and young son were killed.

Francisco Oropesa, who is considered to be armed and dangerous, is believed to have fled the rural town of Cleveland on foot after the shooting on Friday night.

Neighbours have said the Mexican national had lived on the street where the shooting took place for years.

The attacks took place after the 38-year-old’s neighbours asked him to stop firing off rounds in his garden late at night because a baby was trying to sleep.

The gunman’s victims were all from Honduras and have been identified as Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18; Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25; and Daniel Enrique Laso, 9.

More than 250 law enforcement officers from multiple agencies, including the US Marshals, are now part of a growing search.

Oropesa has not been found despite scent-tracking dogs, drones and a total of $80,000 (£64,000) in reward money on offer.

An FBI agent on the scene near Houston has acknowledged the bureau has little to go on in the widening manhunt.

On Monday, a heavy police presence converged in Montgomery County after a possible sighting, but the sheriff’s office later said none of the people located were Oropesa.

A few hours later, the department reported another possible sighting, tweeting that several schools had “secured their campuses” and again asked residents to avoid the area.

But that search, too, turned up nothing.

Both were among the first times since the shooting on Friday night that authorities had announced a possible sighting.

Wilson Garcia, the father of the one-month-old who had been crying before the shooting, has described the terrifying moments his wife Sonia Argentina Guzman and nine-year-old son Daniel Enrique Laso were gunned down.

He said he and the three other men went to Oropesa’s home and “respectfully” asked him to curtail or move his target practice.

“He answered by saying he was in his property and could do whatever he wants,” Mr Garcia said.

“Then he began insulting us… My wife said, ‘OK, let’s call the cops.’ Police took, like, 20 minutes to arrive, and we called five times because the man was very threatening,” he added.

It wasn’t clear whether all five of the 911 calls came before, during or after the shooting.

After refusing to stop firing, Mr Garcia said he could see Oropesa on his porch “smoking and drinking something” before “we saw him as he went inside his home to load the gun”.

Mr Garcia said he urged his wife to take cover inside as the gunman approached their house but she stood her ground.

He said: “He just walked in shooting. He didn’t say anything. He shot her, and the door was wide open. He walks in, room by room, shooting at us.”

Daniel ran to his fatally-wounded mother but was also gunned down, Mr Garcia said.

Police have recovered an AR-15-style rifle that they said Oropesa used in the shootings.

Authorities were not sure if he was carrying another weapon after others were found in his home.

Meanwhile, Republican Governor Greg Abbott has faced a backlash over drawing attention to the victims’ immigration status.

Mr Abbott offered a $50,000 (£40,000) reward over the weekend for any tips that might lead to the gunman being caught.

While doing so, he described all the victims as “illegal immigrants” – a potentially false statement that his office has now apologised for.

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Powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake causes tsunami in Russia’s Far East – with warnings issued for Japan, Hawaii and Alaska

Published

25 mins ago

July 30, 2025

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Powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake causes tsunami in Russia's Far East - with warnings issued for Japan, Hawaii and Alaska

A powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake has struck off Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, causing a tsunami.

A tsunami of up to four metres (13 feet) was recorded in Kamchatka Peninsula, leading to evacuations and damaging buildings, officials said.

Tsunami warnings have been issued for Japan, the Philippines, Hawaii and parts of Alaska in the US.

The Honolulu Department of Emergency Management in Hawaii has called for the evacuation of some coastal areas, writing on X: “Take Action! Destructive tsunami waves expected.”

The first waves in Hawaii are expected to hit at 7pm local time (6am UK time).

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has said waves of one to three meters (three to 10 feet) above tide level were possible along some coastal areas of Hawaii, Chile, Japan and the Solomon Islands.

Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov had earlier said: “Today’s earthquake was serious and the strongest in decades of tremors.”

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Several people in the region sought medical assistance following the quake, Oleg Melnikov, regional health minister told Russia’s Tass state news agency.

“Unfortunately, there are some people injured during the seismic event. Some were hurt while running outside, and one patient jumped out of a window. A woman was also injured inside the new airport terminal,” Mr Melnikov said.

Russia’s Tass news agency reported from the biggest city nearby, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, that many people ran out into the street, while cabinets toppled inside homes, mirrors were broken, cars swayed on roads and balconies on buildings shook noticeably.

Power outages and mobile phone service failures were also reported in the capital of the Kamchatka region.

The first tsunami wave hit the coastal area of Severo-Kurilsk, the main settlement on Russia’s Kuril Islands in the Pacific, according to the local governor Valery Limarenko.

He said residents were safe and staying on high ground until the threat of a repeat wave was gone.

A regional branch of Russia’s geophysical service has said that “significant, noticeable” aftershocks with magnitudes of up to 7.5 after expected to continue for at least another month.

Japan issued a tsunami warning, saying it expects waves as high as three metres to arrive along large coastal areas along the Pacific Ocean.

It has ordered the evacuation of some areas.

The National Tsunami Warning Center, based in Alaska, issued a tsunami warning for parts of the Alaska Aleutian Islands.

A tsunami warning also was extended to the US state of Hawaii, with the National Weather Service’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center saying a tsunami from the quake had been generated that could cause damage along the coastlines of all the Hawaiian islands.

A tsunami “watch” was issued for portions of the West Coast, including California, Oregon, and Washington.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake was shallow at a depth of 19.3 km (12 miles), and was centred about 125 km (80 miles) east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a city of 165,000 along the coast of Avacha Bay. It revised the magnitude up twice from 8.0 and 8.7 to 8.8 earlier.

Meanwhile, New Zealand’s disaster management agency has warned that the country’s coastal areas could expect “strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore”.

In a national advisory alert, Civil Defence New Zealand said there was no immediate need to evacuate but said citizens should stay away from beaches and shore areas.

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Children ‘eating out of piles of garbage’ as Gaza aid trickles in

Published

12 hours ago

July 29, 2025

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Children 'eating out of piles of garbage' as Gaza aid trickles in

“Children are eating out of piles of garbage” – that was the answer from UNICEF’s Salim Oweis when I asked if aid was now getting to those who need it.

The phone call was intended for background to try to get a clearer idea of the latest aid distribution in Gaza, but it’s a conversation I won’t forget.

“Parents are crushing whatever they can into water, most likely unclean water, because there is no infant milk or formula. The reports are horrific,” says Salim.

“Our colleagues are struggling to find enough food for themselves.”

Latest: Trump tells Sky he’s trying to get Gaza ‘straightened out’

It’s been three days since Israel announced humanitarian pauses to allow aid to get to starving people in Gaza but it’s not yet being felt on the ground.

I’m told more aid trucks have entered Kerem Shalom – the border crossing between Gaza and Israel – but that’s only the first stage of the journey.

The aid then needs to be collected and brought inside the Gaza Strip, then taken to partners on the ground for distribution.

It’s a lengthy process, and it needs to be accelerated with urgency.

So far, lorries carrying famine preventative supplies have been collected – that’s high-energy biscuits, food for children between six months and two years, infant formula, vaccines and nappies.

Therapeutic food, which has a peanut butter like consistency, and is aimed to treat malnutrition has arrived at Kerem Shalom but there’s no confirmation yet on whether it’s made it in.

I had not heard of therapeutic food before. I’ve since learnt it is high in energy and micronutrients and won’t treat the complications of malnutrition, but will get a child out of the danger zone.

There is an ongoing issue of desperate people attempting to loot these lorries as they enter Gaza.

“The more aid that goes in, the more the looting will decrease because people will trust that there is now food coming back in,” says Salim.

But the amount getting in is still a fraction of what is needed.

The situation is so desperate, not everyone can wait until tomorrow for help. People are now dying everyday in Gaza due to hunger.

There is no time for wrangling over detail. Food is needed in mass quantities immediately. We have had warnings for months that Gaza was on the brink of famine. It’s now here.

For those working to help the most vulnerable and innocent in Gaza, it feels extremely personal.

“The rest of the world has failed the children and the civilians of Gaza,” says Salim.

“The world is numb and leaders of the world are apparently deaf.”

World

Mile after mile of grey rubble – the view from a plane dropping aid to Gaza

Published

1 day ago

July 29, 2025

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Mile after mile of grey rubble - the view from a plane dropping aid to Gaza

We are on our way to Gaza with the Jordanian military.

The aircraft is hot and noisy and as we get closer, the atmosphere gets more tense. Aircrew gesture with their hands to tell us how many minutes there are to go. Fifteen. Six. One.

The Jordanian military C-130 flies out over the sea before banking and heading inland for Gaza. The parachutes, attached to the top of each of the eight pallets, are prepared for the drop.

As land approaches, I look down. The ground is modern and built up – we’re still over southern Israel.

Then a few short minutes later, it’s clear we’ve crossed Gaza’s border.

The ground turns grey, the shapes of buildings disappear, there are no cars, no people.

You can see the outline of communities and villages that are now flattened. Mile after mile of grey rubble.

This mission by the Royal Jordanian Air Force is one of the first aid drop flights since Israel announced they could resume. It is carrying eight tonnes of food and baby formula.

Foreign nations know this is a deeply flawed way of delivering aid – road convoys are far more effective and can carry far more – but the Jordanian flight crew say the need in Gaza is so urgent, it’s simply an attempt to do something.

When the aircraft ramp opens, the aid is pushed out and it’s gone in seconds.

The parachutes seem peaceful as they open and their fall slows. But dropping food from the sky is a dangerous and undignified way to feed people.

On the ground it’s chaos.

Our colleagues in Gaza say the fighting for food has become lethal – gangs are now punching and stabbing people to reach it first. Most critically, it’s not getting to the weakest. To those who really need it.

One man becomes emotional as he describes racing to find food and leaving with nothing.

“I came only for my son,” he says. “I wouldn’t come here if it was just for me. When you have a child, they need bread.”

He’s an engineer in normal times and seems in disbelief that his life has come to this. “The aid comes from the sky and we have to run after it. I’ve never had to do this in my life.”