Texas Sheriff Says He Doesn't Care if Mass Shooting Victims Here Illegally

San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers has garnered praise for saying he does not care if the people killed by a gunman in Texas were in the country illegally.

Authorities said 38-year-old Francisco Oropeza entered his neighbors' home on Friday night and fatally shot five people after they asked him to stop firing off rounds in his yard at night because a baby was sleeping.

A manhunt for Oropeza, a Mexican national who has been deported multiple times since 2009, is ongoing, with more than 250 law enforcement officers from dozens of agencies involved in the search.

The victims were identified as Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18; Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25; and Daniel Enrique Laso, 9.

San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers speaks to the media outside of a crime scene in Cleveland, Texas, where five people, including an 9-year-old child, were killed in a shooting inside a home on April 29, 2023. Capers has garnered praise for saying he does not care if the people killed in the incident were in the country illegally. Go Nakamura/Getty Images

Law enforcement has not confirmed the citizenship status of the victims. They were reportedly from Honduras and Alvarado was a permanent resident of the U.S., her husband has said.

But Republican Gov. Greg Abbott faced a backlash over the weekend when he referred to them as "illegal immigrants" in his first public statement on the shooting, announcing a $50,000 reward for any tips that might lead to the gunman.

Abbott's spokesperson, Renae Eze, said information provided by federal officials after the shooting had indicated that the suspect and victims were in the country illegally.

"We've since learned that at least one of the victims may have been in the United States legally," Eze said in a statement to Newsweek.

"We regret if the information was incorrect and detracted from the important goal of finding and arresting the criminal. The true focus remains on catching this heinous criminal who killed five innocent people and bringing the full weight of Texas law against him," she said.

Many on social media compared Abbott's initial response with Capers, who became emotional as he spoke about the youngest victim in the shooting on Sunday.

"My heart is with this [9-year-old] little boy," he said.

"I don't care if he was here illegally. He was in my county. Five people died in my county, and that is where my heart is. In my county, protecting my people to the best of our ability."

It was "the correct response to human tragedy," one person wrote in a tweet with more than 18,000 likes.

The correct response to human tragedy:

"My heart is with this 8-year-old little boy. I don't care if he was here legally. I don't care if he was here illegally. He was in my county. Five people died... and that's where my heart is."

--Sheriff Greg Capers #FreshStrong pic.twitter.com/GX2Jq7hZny — Feisty & Fierce (@LMerritt1) May 1, 2023

Another said: "Well said by Sheriff Greg Capers. This is the kind of humanity we needed from the beginning in #clevelandtexas."

A different person wrote that Capers' "normal response (which is heartening) seems abnormal to the MAGA enablers like Abbott who bastardize religion, worship guns, and vilify people who are simply trying to survive."

Another added: "Thank you Sheriff Greg Capers!! Yes, the border issue needs to be resolved, but that doesn't preclude an actual empathetic, human response to this tragedy. Greg Abbott could take some cues from this lawman."

However, some criticized the sheriff's office for not responding sooner when the family called police on Friday night.

One wrote that "the family called 911 FIVE times to complain about the guy shooting his AR-15 in the yard. FIVE. And it still took 30 minutes to respond."

"This is just performative," another wrote. "NOTHING will change."

Abbott's comments prompted criticism from Democrats and immigrant rights groups, who accused him of injecting politics into the shooting while doing "nothing" to curb gun violence in Texas.

The sheriff's office has been contacted for further comment.