Cleveland mass shooting: Survivors speak, law enforcement expands manhunt after 5 killed

Law enforcement continue to search for a man they say killed five people "execution-style" in San Jacinto County late Friday with a rifle identified by authorities as an AR-15. As friends and family gathered to mourn the victims, ages 9 through 31, authorities employed aerial drones and police dogs to locate the killer.

Here's how the story unfolded over the weekend as the Houston Chronicle learned more about the victims and their loved ones, the law enforcement response and the ongoing manhunt for the suspect, who has so far evaded authorities.

Four couples and their children were gathered at a Cleveland, Texas home Friday night so they could be in place for a Saturday morning job for the family's electrical business. The people in the house were members of a tight-knit Honduran family.

Ramiro Guzman, who lived in the home, said their neighbor got mad when they asked him to shoot from some other part of his property, further from their home, also saying the shooting frightened children. "He said he was going to do what he wanted because it was his property," he told the Houston Chronicle in Spanish during a phone interview on Sunday.

Family members said 16 people, including eight children, were inside the home at the time of the shooting, although authorities previously reported the number of people to be 10.

The first victim was Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25, the wife of homeowner Wilson Garcia. She was found shot at the front door. Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21, and Julisa Molina Rivera, 31, both were found dead inside a bedroom, their bodies draped across three small children, who survived.

The last two people fatally shot were Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18, and Daniel Enrique Lazo Guzman, 9. Guzman's school, Northside Elementary in Cleveland, held a vigil on Sunday. 

"I don't have words to describe what happened," Wilson Garcia said in Spanish. " It's like we're alive but at the same time we're not. What happened truly was horrible."

Cleveland Independent School District announced crisis counselors would be on call during the weekend and available at schools starting Monday. The other three children present during the shooting survived and were taken to a hospital.

They were were covered with the blood of Diana Velazquez Alvarado and Julisa Molina Rivera, who were both shot while laying on top of the children to cover them, law enforcement officials said. They also used clothes to hide Garcia's second son, who is less than 2 months old, Garcia said. All three children were released from the hospital and placed with family, according to Sheriff Greg Capers.

The manhunt for the suspected shooter, Francisco Oropeza, currently has "zero leads," FBI Special Agent in Charge James Smith told reporters.

Over the weekend, more than 150 officers gathered to search a wooded area near the site of the shooting where authorities initially believed Oropeza had fled, but only turned up some of his belongings. The search expanded Sunday to "well over 200" officers going door to door searching for tips, Capers said. 

"We do not know where he is. We don't have any tips right now to where he may be," Smith said. "Right now, we're running into dead ends."

Smith said he expected the search to become more difficult as time goes on. Authorities plan to put up large posters in Spanish advertising the $80,000 cash reward for information in hopes that someone will turn in Oropeza, according to Capers. Oropeza's wife is in "constant contact" with law enforcement, he said.

Officials repeated that Oropeza should still be considered armed and dangerous.

The search for Oropeza was being carried out by state, local and national law enforcement agencies, including the San Jacinto County Sheriff's Office, FBI, U.S. Marshal's Office, Texas Department of Public Safety, Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, Montgomery County Constable's Office Precinct 4, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

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