A mass shooting suspect is on the run after allegedly killing five neighbours in their Texas home after they asked him over the fence to stop making noise.
The gunman had been firing his weapon into the air in his front yard in the town of Cleveland when some of the neighbours asked him to stop because a baby was sleeping.
Police allege he then went to their property and entered the home, using a rifle to kill five of the occupants, including an eight-year-old child, on Friday evening (local time).
The alleged killer, who remains at large, was named as Francisco Oropeza, 38.
He has been charged with five counts of murder, but police were still searching for him on Saturday morning (local time).
“The victims, they came over to the fence said, ‘Hey, could you mind not shooting out in the yard. We have a young baby that is trying to go sleep,’” said San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers.
The sheriff said the suspect, who had been drinking, responded, “I’ll do what I want to in my front yard.”
Both parties then went back to their houses, said Sheriff Caper, where the shooter “topped off his magazine, and walked down his driveway” onto the street then “into the people’s house and started shooting”.
Sheriff Capers said the bodies were found around the home and had been shot in the head at close range — “almost execution-style”.
The bodies of two female victims looked like they were trying to shield two young children who survived.
“They were trying to take care of them babies and keep them babies alive,” said the sheriff.
Officials from Capers’ office received a call about harassment from Cleveland at 11.31pm but when they reached the scene they found several victims who had been shot, he said.
There were a total of ten people in the house when the gunman got in and started shooting, said Sheriff Capers, five of whom survived.
Police said the victims were all from Honduras but officials did not disclose their names, US broadcaster ABC news reported earlier.
‘A normal day’
Neighbour Veronica Pineda told media she heard the gunfire, but didn’t think it was unusual.
“It’s normal, in this neighbourhood they’re always shooting. They’re always calling the cops and there’s nothing done for that,” she said.
“So yesterday I heard the shooting but I thought it was, like, a normal day. I never thought this was happening.”
The suspect was still on the run on Sunday morning (AEDT).
“He is on the run in the Sam Houston National Forest over here in San Jacinto County. We are tracking him with dogs and men on horseback and drones in the air,” Sheriff Capers said.
Three killed, one wounded in Philadelphia
In a separate shooting, three people were killed and one was wounded at a home in northeast Philadelphia.
Officers were called to the home in the suburb of Lawncrest about 3.30 pm on Friday (local time) and found one person shot on the footpath, another on the verandah, and a third victim inside the home, Lieutenant John Stanford told reporters.
All three were pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said another 16-year-old male victim arrived in a car at Jefferson Frankford Hospital.
Lt Stanford said at least two people were taken into custody and a gun was recovered from the vehicle.
Police said the victims were aged between 15 and 20.
WPVI-TV reported officials from the School District of Philadelphia confirmed at least two of the victims were students in the school district, one in the eighth grade and the other in the 11th grade.
No identities were immediately released.
