Gonzalo Lopez, a convicted murderer who made a dramatic escape from custody in Texas in May, was shot dead by officers late on June 2. Lopez is suspected of killing an adult and four kids while on the run. He was armed with an AR-15 and pistol, which police say he likely stole from their family home.
“Lopez is obviously a killer. He has a disregard for human life,” Jason Clark with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said.
Lopez drove off in a truck he took from the home, which is between Dallas and Houston. The vehicle’s tires were spiked in Jourdanton, Atascosa County, and Lopez crashed into a tree before engaging in a gunfight with law enforcement. No officers were injured.
A violent escape from custody
Lopez allegedly attacked a corrections officer driving a prison bus before heading on the run in Texas. Per CNN, Gonzalo Lopez “stabbed Officer Smith in the left hand,” before bailing out of the bus. He evaded capture for weeks despite one of the biggest searches in the state’s history, with more than 300 law enforcement officers on the hunt.
Lopez was convicted of capital murder, attempted capital murder and aggravated kidnapping. He was added to Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List, and the reward for information leading to his capture has been increased to up to $50,000.
According to the Department of Public Safety, Lopez was 6 feet tall, weighs about 185 pounds, and had tattoos on his back, abdomen and chest. He also had a burn scar on the right side of his neck.
How did Lopez escape?
Lopez reportedly cut through metal and crawled underneath a cage to free himself inside the vehicle. He then got into a “physical altercation while Officer Smith was driving the bus,” Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesperson Robert Hurst told the press. “He stabbed Officer Smith in the left hand with some sort of object. Officer Smith struggled with him trying to keep him from getting his service revolver — his weapon.”
Lopez apparently fought the bus driver outside the bus, then got back into the vehicle and started driving, before officers shot the rear tire. He then got out and ran into a wooded area.
“We will not call off the search until we find him,” Hurst said.
A warning to the public
Lopez, 46, was given a life sentence 17 years ago for killing a man with a pickaxe after kidnapping him and attempting to force a ransom out of his wife. He was also convicted of attempted capital murder, having fired shots at a sheriff’s deputy, and received a second life sentence in 2007
“He’s somebody who is very dangerous,” Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesperson Robert Hurst told the press.
Per CNN, Texas’ public safety department also warned the public that Lopez is connected to the Mexican Mafia and has links to the Rio Grande Valley area and San Antonio.
Lopez made his escape in Leon County at around 1:20 p.m. on May 12 on Highway 7 near Centerville, roughly 120 miles north of Houston.
Police warned the public not to attempt to take Lopez into custody themselves, and advised local residents to lock their vehicles and doors. The Centerville school district entered a “precautionary lockdown” after Lopez’s escape, with elementary students held back in their gym before they were allowed to go home.
