Texas man suspected of shooting and killing five neighbors arrested after 4-day manhunt

The man suspected of shooting five of his neighbors last Friday in Texas in the USA has been arrested after a four-day police manhunt.

The man, a 38-year-old man, was arrested in the Texas town of Cut and Shoot on Tuesday, San Jacinto County State’s Attorney Todd Dillon told NBC News.

The man, who has Mexican background, is in custody in the Montgomery County jail and is charged with murder.

Arrested in the house of a relative

The accused was arrested in a house where he was hiding under dirty laundry, says San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers. Police officers entered the house after they were tipped off that the man could be there.

– He is behind bars now, and there he will spend the rest of his life for having killed the five, says the sheriff.

The 38-year-old was arrested in the house of a relative, in the small town with the brutal name Cut and Shoot. The man’s wife must have been present, state prosecutor Dillon said at the press conference after the arrest.

It is now being investigated whether the family has kept the suspected man hidden, writes Houston Chronicle.

Killed when asked to shoot elsewhere

It was late Friday last week that the five people were shot and killed outside the city of Cleveland in Texas.

According to the police, it happened after the suspected perpetrator was shooting in his garden. The shooting had woken up a child who was sleeping in a car, writes Houston Chronicle.

– We thought he would get angry if we asked him to stop shooting, so we asked him not to shoot so close to our garden. Just do it a little further away, Ramiro Guzman tells the newspaper.

His sister and her nine-year-old son and two other family members were killed in the mass shooting on Friday. The tragedy happened when the extended family was gathered at the sister’s property.

Were killed when they shielded the children

Because the neighbour, who appeared to be drunk, got angry. He entered the property and started shooting. Several phone calls were made to the police, but they were told that the police were already on the scene, writes Houston Chronicle.

But it probably took more than 20 minutes before the police arrived, writes local media. The perpetrator had then disappeared into a forest clearing beyond the property. Five dead people lay behind. All from the same extended family.

The youngest nine years. All had a background from Honduras. Two women were found murdered in the house’s bedroom. They had sought refuge inside the house. In desperation, the mothers had laid over three toddlers, all of whom survived.

The male suspect reportedly used an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. The police

Four days of police hunting

The police launched a large-scale hunt for the perpetrator. They used both drones and special dogs in the search for the 38-year-old. Texas Governor Greg Abbott offered a $50,000 reward. The police in Cleveland say that tips came from all over the United States. A search was also made for the man on the Mexican side of the border, the BBC reports.

But after 200 police officers had hunted for the 38-year-old for four days, he was finally found at a relative’s house.

The alleged perpetrator has been deported to Mexico four times, according to US immigration authorities. The first time was in March 2009 and the last time in July 2016.

According to Sheriff Capers, police officers have been to the suspect’s home at least once before after reports of a shooting in the backyard.

There is a widespread gun culture and frequent shootings in this area, writes Houston Chronicle. This as an explanation for why the police were so dismissive when 911 was called during the mass shooting.