Escaped Texas inmate dies in police shootout after allegedly murdering family of 5 [View all]
Last edited Fri Jun 3, 2022, 06:40 AM - Edit history (1)
Source: ABC News
A Texas inmate suspected of murdering five people after he escaped from a prison bus was killed by authorities on Thursday, officials said. A massive manhunt was underway for 46-year-old Gonzalo Lopez when an adult and four children were found dead Thursday evening inside a residence in Leon County in east-central Texas, near where the inmate had escaped three weeks prior.
Lopez was believed to have broken into the home and committed the murders, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Authorities said at the time that Lopez may have stolen clothes, firearms and a 1999 white Chevrolet Silverado from the residence. The house was believed to be a weekend home for the victims, whose primary residence was in Houston.
Authorities said the family had been seen Thursday morning and were found murdered around 6 p.m. local time, after an individual contacted law enforcement because they had not heard from an elderly relative inside the home and were concerned. Authorities had initially said that two adults and three children were discovered dead there."We will not rest until Gonzalo Lopez is in custody," Jason Clark, chief of staff for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said at a press conference Thursday evening.
Later that night, deputies from the Atascosa County Sheriff's Office spotted the stolen pickup truck that Lopez was believed to be driving and followed it. They laid out spike strips that flattened all four tires of the vehicle on a street in Jourdanton, just south of San Antonio and some 250 miles southwest of Leon County. The suspect then pointed a rifle out of the window and fired several shots at the deputies, who returned fire, according to authorities. The suspect was killed in the shootout and was confirmed to be Lopez, who authorities said was armed with an AR-15 and a pistol.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/adults-kids-found-dead-inside-home-escaped-texas/story?id=85150941
Heard THIS on the radio earlier this morning.
As a further update on the deceased family -
June 2, 2022, 10:15 PM EDT / Updated June 3, 2022, 3:58 AM EDT
By Claire Cardona, Lindsey Pipia and Phil Helsel
(snip)
Gonzalo Lopez, 46, had no connection to the family that was found dead in Leon County in east Texas, said Jason Clark, chief of staff for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He has been missing since May 12 when he stabbed a prison bus driver in the hand and escaped on foot in rural Texas, officials said. He took a truck from that home, which is about halfway between Dallas and Houston, and law enforcement in Atascosa County, south of San Antonio, spotted it and started following, Clark said.
After the tires were spiked and a short chase, Lopez crashed into a tree. He got out with a gun and shot at officers who fired back and killed Lopez, Clark said. It was not immediately clear what department the officers who killed Lopez were from, he said. No officers were injured. Lopez had an AR-15 and a pistol, Clark said, though it was not immediately clear where the firearms came from and which was used in the shootout. The shootout happened around 10:30 p.m. in the city of Jourdanton, about 250 miles southwest of Leon County, where Lopez escaped last month after stabbing a prison bus driver.
Officials searching for Lopez received a call from a person who had not heard from relatives, and when officers went to the home on Thursday they discovered the bodies, Clark said. “This is a tragedy that you had five individuals who lost their lives,” Clark said. “I am thankful that tonight Gonzalo Lopez is unable to harm anyone else.” The family is thought to have arrived Thursday to the house, which was being used as their vacation property, and were slain later in the afternoon, Clark said.
The home on Texas Highway 7, about a quarter mile west of Interstate 45, was inside the perimeter where law enforcement have been searching for Lopez and had been checked and cleared "multiple times," he said. He could not say whether authorities had spoken directly with the family, who were from Houston. Their identities have not been released. The TDCJ initially said the dead included two adults and three children, but in a later update said one adult and four minors were killed.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/escaped-texas-inmate-may-truck-taken-home-5-found-dead-officials-say-rcna29752
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