Texas prison bus escape convict killed

The 46-year-old Gonzalo Lopez, a Texas inmate suspected of murdering five people after he escaped from a prison bus was killed by authorities on Thursday.

He escaped the prison bus on May 12 after stabbing the bus driver and later he killed a family of five and stole their truck from a rural weekend cabin.

Lopez was killed about 10:30 pm Thursday in Jourdanton, Texas, about 35 miles (55km) south of San Antonio, said Jason Clark, spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

“Law enforcement in Atascosa county located the stolen vehicle disabled it with spike strips, and gunfire ensued,” Clark said in a statement. No officers were injured, he said.

Lopez crashed the vehicle and then engaged in a firefight with officers, he said.

"He fired several rounds at officers and was armed with an AR-15 and a pistol," Clark said, adding they believe the firearms were likely stolen from the home in Centerville where the family was killed.

The officers fired at Lopez and disabled the bus by shooting the rear tire, the department said. The bus then travelled a short distance before leaving the roadway, where Lopez got out and ran into the woods.

Lopez had been convicted of capital murder, attempted capital murder and aggravated kidnapping, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. He was serving two life sentences for those convictions.

Authorities had said Lopez was allegedly affiliated with the Mexican Mafia.

[ With inputs from agencies]

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