Francisco Oropesa: Several people arrested after allegedly helping Texas fugitive hide

Suspect accused of killing five neighbours

Francisco Oropesa has been accused of killing five and leading law enforcement on a four-day manhunt. Reuters

Texas authorities have arrested several people who may have helped a man suspected of killing five neighbours to evade a manhunt for four days, a local deputy sheriff said on Wednesday, a day after the suspect's capture.

The bloodshed occurred on Friday in Cleveland, Texas, after neighbours asked Francisco Oropesa to stop firing his semi-automatic rifle in his yard because it was keeping their baby awake.

Instead, the man reloaded, entered the home of the neighbours and killed five, including an eight-year-old boy, officials said.

San Jacinto County Chief Deputy Tim Kean at a news conference on Wednesday said several additional arrests have been made but did not go into detail on their involvement in the crime or the search for the suspect.

“Anybody that helped this maniac definitely has some issues, as far as I am concerned,” Mr Kean said.

Mr Oropesa, 38, was apprehended on Tuesday after a four-day manhunt conducted by local, state and federal officials. He was found in a wardrobe under some laundry in a home in nearby Montgomery County.

A $5 million bond will be set for the suspected gunman when he appears later on Wednesday before a judge in a local jail, where he is being held on five counts of murder, Mr Kean said.

The suspect was arrested in the town of Cut and Shoot, Texas, about 27km west of Cleveland, where the shootings took place. Both are about 80km north of Houston.

Officials acted on a tip from an unidentified person who was eligible for an $80,000 reward offered for information leading to the arrest, San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said on Tuesday.

Most of the victims were shot in the head. All were from Honduras and among 10 people living at the address, but they were not all family members, Mr Capers said.

The suspect is a Mexican citizen who immigration officials said had been deported from the US four times since 2009.