In this undated photo made available by the Texas Department of Justice, Gonzalo López is shown. López, convicted of murder, fled the scene after stabbing the driver of a prison bus on May 12. (Texas Department of Justice via Associated Press)
In this undated photo made available by the Texas Department of Justice, Gonzalo López is shown. López, convicted of murder, fled the scene after stabbing the driver of a prison bus on May 12. (Texas Department of Justice via Associated Press)
A convicted murderer on the run since escaping from a jail bus after stabbing its driver last month was gunned down Thursday night after killing a family of five and stealing their truck from a rural cabin. weekend, explained the spokesman for the Texas prison system.
Gonzalo Lopez, 46, was shot around 10:30 p.m. Thursday in Jourdanton, Texas, about 35 miles south of San Antonio, said Jason Clark, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
“Atascosa County deputies located the stolen vehicle, disabled it with spike bands, and a shooting ensued,” Clark said in a statement. No police officers were injured, he added.
Lopez died about 220 miles (354 km) southeast of Centerville, Texas, where Clark said he had murdered a Houston family of five in their cabin and stolen their truck.
Lopez was believed to be hiding near the vacation home when authorities received a call from someone concerned about not hearing from an elderly relative, the spokesman said.
The agents went to the house, located on Texas Route 7, west of Centerville, around 6:00 p.m. Thursday and found the bodies of one adult and four minors, three of them children. His identity has not been released, but his white truck was missing, Clark said, adding that the fugitive was part of the Mexican Mafia prison gang and had ties to South Texas.
Lopez, 46, was sentenced to life in prison in 2016 for murdering a man on the Texas-Mexico border.
