At a vigil held on Sunday, a man who lost his wife and son in a deadly mass shooting in Texas tearfully recalled the specifics of the tragedy.
Wilson Garcia claimed that his one-month-old infant began to cry due to the noise of a neighbor’s firing, so he and two others requested the man to move away.
Five individuals were killed inside Mr. Garcia’s home when the suspect, 38-year-old Francisco Oropeza, allegedly opened fire indiscriminately afterwards.
He is still at large.
Authorities have issued a reward of $80,000 (£64,000) from Texas Governor Greg Abbott, the FBI, and local law enforcement for information that results in Mr. Oropeza’s arrest.
Mr. Garcia claimed that he “respectfully” requested his neighbour in Cleveland, Texas, a tiny town, to shoot his gun farther away so that his young kid might sleep.
He told the Associated Press, “He told us he was on his property, and he could do what he wanted.”
Five times, Mr. Garcia called the police, and each time he received assurances that assistance was on the way. Then he observed Mr. Oropeza loading his firearm and running back towards his house.
He said that his wife, Sonia Argentina Guzman, had instructed him to enter the house since he wouldn’t shoot at a woman. But as he opened fire on the house, she ended up being his first casualty.
At the time of the shooting, there were 15 individuals inside the home, several of whom were apparently attending a church retreat.
Daniel Enrique Laso, Mr. Garcia’s nine-year-old son, and two ladies who died defending his infant and two-year-old daughter were also among the deceased.
According to Mr. Garcia, one of the women advised him to jump out a window in order to survive so that he could care for his living children.
All of the victims were Hondurans. The others are Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18, Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21, and Julisa Molina Rivera, 31.
According to Mr. Garcia, “I don’t have words to describe what happened.” “It’s as though we’re both living and dead at the same time. What occurred was just terrible.
The Houston Chronicle said that three of the three children who were present when the incident happened and who were hurt and sent to the hospital were released on Sunday.
The suspect is still being sought after. Police warned he should be viewed as dangerous and armed.
James Smith, a special agent of the FBI, informed reporters, “I can tell you right now, we have zero leads.” We have no idea where he is. Right now, we don’t know anything about his whereabouts. We are currently encountering dead ends.
Following the shooting, more than 150 officers gathered nearby in a wooded area to search where it was initially thought Mr. Oropeza had fled on foot. They discovered clothing and a phone during their search.
According to San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers, tracking dogs eventually lost the suspect’s scent, but the search involving more than 200 officers continued on Sunday.
What steps will US gun control take next?
When questioned about the response time to Mr. Garcia’s repeated pleas for assistance, he said that just three cops were patrolling several hundred square miles and that they arrived as swiftly as possible.
Enrique Reina, the foreign minister of Honduras, tweeted: “We demand that those responsible for this crime face the full force of the law.”
Days before, a shooting at a gathering for teens in western Texas left nine people hurt.
Four teenagers were shot and killed two weeks ago in Alabama at a 16th birthday celebration.
According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, firearm-related incidents are the leading cause of death for children and teenagers in the US.
