A man who narrowly survived after losing his wife and young son in a deadly shooting in Cleveland, Texas, spoke out about what prompted a neighbor to open fire on the family.

Wilson Garcia spoke to reporters Sunday afternoon at a vigil hosted at Northside Elementary Sunday. That's where his son, Daniel Enrique Laso Guzman, attended the third grade before the boy was murdered at home Friday evening. It was Garcia's wife, Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25, who was the first to be fatally shot, allegedly by 38-year-old suspect Francisco Oropesa, according to authorities.

"My wife died, and my 9-year-old son died," Garcia told KHOU in Spanish on Sunday. "What can I say, I am trying to stay strong for my children. My daughter kind of gets, understands things. It's hard when she comes to me and starts asking for her mom and her brother."

People in their rural town north of Houston are used to people firing their weapons to blow off steam, but it was late Friday night, and Garcia had a month-old son who was crying.

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So, Garcia said, he and two other people went to his neighbor’s house to "respectfully" ask that Oropesa shoot farther away from their home.

"He told us he was on his property, and he could do what he wanted," Garcia said Sunday. 

Garcia called the police after Oropesa rejected his request. The man shot some more, and now it sounded louder. In the neighborhood of homes on one-acre lots, Garcia could see the man on his front porch but couldn’t tell what he was doing. His family continued to called police – five calls in all, Garcia said. Five times the dispatcher assured that help was coming.

And then, 10 to 20 minutes after Garcia had walked back from Oropesa's house, the man started running toward him, and reloading.

"I told my wife, ‘Get inside. This man has loaded his weapon,'" Garcia said. "My wife told me to go inside because ‘he won’t fire at me, I’m a woman.’"

The gunman walked up to the home and began firing. Garcia’s wife, Sonia Argentina Guzman, was at the front door. 

The house held 15 people in all, several of them friends who had been there to join Garcia’s wife on a church retreat. The gunman seemed intent on killing everyone, Garcia said.

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Two women who died – Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21, and Julisa Molina Rivera, 31 – were killed while shielding Garcia’s baby, 2-year-old daughter and a third child. Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18, was also killed. 

Garcia said one of the women had told him to jump out a window "because my children were without a mother and one of their parents had to stay alive to take care of them." 

"This tragedy that unfolded. He had no right. We never offended him. We never disrespected him," another survivor, Jefrinson Rivera, told FOX 26 Houston in a separate interview. 

Garcia, seated on a couch beside Rivera, later told FOX 26 he soon came back to the house where he encountered the gunman. 

"That’s when the suspect shot at me. He shot at me five times in the house. When he didn’t catch me, he returned to gun them down again, and he shot them in the head," Garcia said. 

"I looked to my left, and he was pointing his gun at me," Rivera recalled. "He told me, ‘I was looking for you. I’m going to kill you.’"

The men said they threw a machete at Oropesa and were able to run to safety.

"Five people died. Diana and Julisa died covering the children. They died defending the children," Rivera said. "I’m scared because he can come back and look for us, but we’re hoping that police do their job and arrest him."

San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers has said the surviving three children were covered in blood and brought to a hospital by ambulance, but were physically unharmed. 

FBI Houston said Monday morning that Oropesa remained at large. More than 250 law enforcement officers from over a dozen local, state and federal agencies are actively searching. Garcia and the deceased victims were from Honduras. Oropesa, a Mexican national, was reportedly in the U.S. illegally and had been deported at least five times. 

Oropesa was previously ordered removed by an immigration judge on March 16, 2009, and subsequently removed by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Houston to Mexico on March 17, 2009, a spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told Fox News. At an unknown time and location, Oropesa unlawfully reentered the United States, and was apprehended and removed several more times by ICE ERO in September 2009, January 2012, and July 2016. 

Oropesa, who sometimes uses the additional hyphenated surname Perez-Torres, has also been previously convicted in Montgomery County, Texas, of driving while intoxicated in January 2012, and sentenced to serve time in jail, the spokesperson said. As a result of the April 29 incident, the Cold Spring Texas Sheriff’s Office issued an arrest warrant for Oropesa for homicide. He is wanted by the San Jacinto County Sheriff's Office in connection to the suspected shooter incident in Cleveland, Texas. 

Fox News' Bill Melugin and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Less plaque, fewer cavities and healthier gums may be the more obvious benefits of flossing your teeth — but did you know it could also lower your risk of heart disease?

"There are a lot of studies that have talked about — at least for periodontal disease — the connection between gum disease and heart health," said Sasha Ross, DMD, a periodontist for Cleveland Clinic. 

Gum disease can cause high blood pressure and lead to inflammation and bacteria in the heart, research has shown, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

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"There’s really a very strong association between the two, where patients who have periodontal disease are at a much greater risk for having heart disease, stroke or other issues like that," Dr. Ross also told Fox News Digital.

Some 43% of adults 30 and older have some type of gum disease, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

For adults 65 and older, that number rises to 70%.

Some people are more susceptible to complications even if they brush and floss every day, while others can do the bare minimum but have no issues at all, Dr. Ross pointed out. 

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Those who have heart valve disease are at a higher risk, according to Dr. Marietta Ambrose, assistant professor of clinical medicine at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine.

"The bacteria that live in your mouth when you have gum disease can cross into your bloodstream, enter the heart and directly infect the vulnerable heart valves," she said in a 2022 article on Penn Medicine’s website. 

"That’s especially concerning in our patients who have artificial heart valves."

People should brush their teeth at least twice a day and floss once a day, either before or after brushing, says the American Dental Association (ADA).

Some signs of flossing negligence include bleeding or swollen gums, plaque buildup, cavities, loose teeth, bad breath and gum recession, Dr. Ross said.

"I think a lot of people are never taught how to properly floss and what kind of floss to use, so at one of these visits we can work with you and show you how to do it," she said. 

"Then just make it part of your daily routine. I say it’s really good to floss once a day, ideally at night before you go to bed."

For those who are unsure about the proper way to floss, Dr. Ross recommends using a water pick or special brushes designed to clean between the teeth.

For best results, here are specific flossing instructions, as shared by Healthline.

Break off around 18 to 24 inches of floss. 

Wrap it around both middle fingers and hold the floss taut.

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Glide the floss up and down between each tooth. 

Avoid pulling the floss up into the gums, as this can cause bruising or injury.

As the floss reaches the gums, curve it slightly to allow it to clean the space between the gums and the tooth.

For each tooth, use a new, clean section of floss.

In addition to regular brushing and flossing, visit a dentist regularly and limit sugary foods and drinks to protect dental health, the ADA recommends.

To read more pieces in Fox News Digital's "Be Well" series, click here.