The Law enforcement officials in Texas had captured Francisco Oropeza at a relative’s home, ending a four-day manhunt for the suspect.
According to the police, the suspect fled after a mass shooting on Friday night that left five neighbours dead, including a 9-year-old boy.
A tip to the FBI around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday led authorities to Mr Oropeza at his sister’s home in Cut and Shoot.
It was about 20km from where the shooting occurred in the rural community of Cleveland, north of Houston.
Sometime after 6:00 p.m., police said they discovered Mr Oropeza hiding under a pile of laundry in a closet at the home.
Authorities arrested Mr Oropeza without incident after warning people he could be armed and dangerous.
Mr Oropeza, 38, was briefly jailed in Montgomery County before being transferred to a detention facility in the San Jacinto County seat of Cold Springs.
He went before a magistrate and was held on $5 million bail.
The arrest came after police said Mr Oropeza entered a household on a quiet pockmarked street in rural Texas on Friday evening and massacred five people.
Those massacred included three mothers, a teenager and a nine-year-old boy.
Police say Mr Oropeza stormed into his neighbour’s house and started firing at members of the four families who had gathered that evening.
Ramiro Guzman, who survived the massacre hiding under a blanket in a closet with his wife and six-month-old, said his brother-in-law had asked Mr Oropeza to stop shooting his AR-15 rife.
The shooting of his AR-15 rife was so close to their front yard because the noise disturbed his sister and brother-in-law’s six-week-old baby.
Sheriff Greg Capers said at a news conference that tips came in nationwide, including Wyoming and Florida.
More than 200 law enforcement officials aided in the search.
San Jacinto County District Attorney Todd Dillon said Mr Oropeza’s wife was at the Cut and Shoot home at the time of his arrest.
Mr Dillon said authorities are investigating whether Mr Oropeza’s relatives had been hiding him in the days since the deadly shooting.
Authorities said no one else had been arrested concerning the shooting and Mr Oropeza’s flight.
The district attorney said Mr Oropeza was charged with five counts of murder, but a grand jury could impose more serious charges.
Loved ones of those killed welcomed the arrest.
“Of course, I’m happy, but not much because this isn’t going to bring my woman back,’’ said Jeffri Rivera.
Mr Rivera’s 21-year-old girlfriend, Diana Velasquez Alvarado, was among those killed.
Her boyfriend said the mother of two young boys died protecting a group of children from gunfire.
The five people killed were Alvarado, Sonia Argentina Guzman Taibot, 25; Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; and Daniel Enrique Lazo Guzman, 9.
(dpa/NAN)
