Suspected of killing family dies in police shooting 1:17
(CNN) -
New details have emerged revealing how convicted murderer Gonzalo Lopez managed to escape from a prison bus in Texas and also what he did before killing five people from the same family, police said.
A convicted Texas murderer dies after being identified as a suspect in the murder of a family of 5
Lopez's escape in May triggered one of the largest searches of inmates in state history, as hundreds of officers searched the wooded area where he was believed to be hiding.
Authorities say the inmate killed a family in Leon County last week, then died during a standoff with police.
Just days before killing 66-year-old Mark Collins and his four grandchildren, Lopez broke into a property next to the victims' home, according to Robert Hurst, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (DJC). acronym in English).
Collins and her grandchildren were visiting the family's rest ranch outside Centerville, Texas, near where the inmate escaped three weeks earlier and within the perimeter police were searching for him after his escape, according to the Department of Justice. Texas Public Safety.
Gonzalo López arrived earlier at a house, according to the authorities
López broke into a house next to the extensive land of the Collins ranch "between 24 and 48 hours before" attacking the family, Hurst said.
There was no one on the nearby property at the time.
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Authorities did not appear to alert residents that there were signs of suspicious activity at the house next to the ranch, according to CNN conversations with locals.
Asked why the community wasn't alerted as soon as police suspected a break-in, a Texas prison spokesman said DNA evidence was needed to confirm that it was really Lopez who had entered the house.
Search for a convicted murderer who escaped in Texas after allegedly attacking the policeman who was driving the prison bus
Mark Collins and his four grandchildren were shot and stabbed to death, according to Andy Kahan, director of victim services and advocacy for Crime Stoppers of Houston, who said he met with the Collins family in the days following the crime.
The chasing
After murdering the family, López stole their truck and the authorities quickly identified him as the main suspect in the events.
On June 2, the fugitive was killed during a confrontation with police in the town of Jourdanton, hundreds of miles from the Collins home, the DCJ reported.
Agents were able to disable the truck with a spike barrier, causing Lopez to crash.
He then engaged them in a shootout, the department said.
"He fired multiple rounds at the cops and was armed with an AR-15 and a handgun," DCJ's Jason Clark said.
The official added that authorities believe Lopez likely stole the firearms from the Centerville home where the Collins family died.
No agent was injured.
The murdered minors, grandchildren of Collins, were identified as the Waylon brothers, 18 years old;
Carson, 16, and Hudson, 11;
and his cousin, Bryson Collins, 11.
Carson Collins, 16;
Hudson Collins, 11, and Waylon Collins, 18.
The family's pastor, Steve Bezner, referred to Collins and his grandchildren as an "amazing family" that was "close-knit and of deep faith."
Other inmates created a diversion for Lopez to escape, state says
Gonzalo López escaped on May 12 while being transported to a medical appointment in Huntsville, Texas, according to authorities.
The 46-year-old fugitive was serving two life sentences for murder and attempted capital murder, in addition to convictions for aggravated kidnapping.
At the time of the transfer, the inmate was in a "separate, caged area of the bus designated for high-risk inmates," according to a DCJ statement.
As the bus neared Centerville, the other 15 inmates in the vehicle began to cause noise and distractions, allowing Lopez to break out, Hurst told CNN.
Inside the caged area, Lopez used a "prison-made knife and key" to free himself from his handcuffs and walk through the cage to the prison official driving the bus, according to Texas State Sen. John Whitmire, who is chairman. from the Criminal Justice Commission and routinely receives reports from state law enforcement.
DCJ authorities previously said the prisoner cut through the bottom of the cage before stabbing the driver with "some type of object" and unsuccessfully trying to grab the gun the agent was carrying.
Lopez and the driver exited the bus, and a second officer in the back of the vehicle got out and began to approach the inmate, DCJ said.
Lopez got back on the bus and drove a short distance, authorities said.
Prison officials shot at the rear tires, causing Lopez to crash a short distance down the road, according to authorities.
The prisoner then ran into the woods along Highway 7 in Leon County.
For three weeks, López evaded police as a massive search for his whereabouts was carried out.
In the first two weeks of the manhunt, prison officials held multiple briefings on the search efforts that included some 400 officers on the ground, searching the wooded area where López was believed to be hiding.
"We had no idea where he was," Hurst told CNN. "How he managed to dodge everyone was incredibly frustrating."
CNN's Andy Rose, Christina Maxouris and Ray Sanchez contributed to this report.
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