STORY: At a media briefing, San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers named the suspect as 38-year-old Francisco Oropeza and said authorities have charged him with five counts of murder, adding that catching him was his department's "number one priority".

Capers said a tracking dog used the scent from the suspect's clothing to follow him, but lost the scent at a water body. "So, at this time, the area has went from five or six square miles, it could be as much as ten or 20, depending on whether or not he crossed the high line of water," he said.

The sheriff said the suspect started shooting off rounds with an AR-15-style rifle in his yard in Cleveland late Friday night, when some of the victims stepped out to confront him. Officials from Capers' office received a call about harassment at around 11:31 p.m. local time, but when they reached the scene they found several victims who had been shot, Capers said.

While police said they had retrieved the rifle used in the shooting, FBI special agent James Smith warned that authorities still consider the suspect "armed and dangerous" and urged the community to help locate him.

However, Smith also stressed, "We do not ask the community to take the matters into their own hands."