Gonzalo Lopez the hunt is over, #GonzaloLopez #FugitiveEnforcement #nypd #escapedprisoner
One of the most dramatic manhunts in Texas history ended late Thursday when a convicted murderer who had escaped from a prison bus last month was killed in a shootout with the police, hours after he became the prime suspect in the killing of five people at a home, the authorities said. The convict, Gonzalo Artemio Lopez, had been the prime suspect in the murders of four minors and one adult whose bodies were discovered on Thursday at a home near where he had escaped in May. The authorities said he had taken a vehicle from the home, a white Chevrolet Silverado, to drive out of the area. Late on Thursday night, police officers in Jourdanton, Texas, spotted Mr. Lopez, 46, driving the missing vehicle and disabled it by putting spike strips on the road, Jason Clark, the chief of staff at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, told reporters. Jourdanton is south of San Antonio and more than 200 miles southwest of the area where Mr. Lopez had escaped. After a short chase, Mr. Lopez crashed the vehicle into a tree and began shooting at the officers, who returned fire and ultimately killed him, Mr. Clark said. Mr. Lopez, who was armed with an AR-15 rifle and a pistol, fired several rounds at the officers but none of them were struck, he added. “I will tell you that we are breathing a sigh of relief that Lopez will not be able to hurt anyone else,” Mr. Clark said. When Mr. Lopez escaped from a prison bus on May 12, he had been serving sentences for crimes that included killing a man with a pickax. After his escape, he topped the state’s most wanted list, and by the time he was killed, the authorities were offering $50,000 in exchange for information leading to his arrest and conviction. The bus Mr. Lopez escaped from last month had been transporting him and 15 other inmates to a medical appointment. As it approached Centerville, a city about halfway between Houston and Dallas on Interstate 45, he broke free of his shackles, attacked the driver and drove the bus for a mile before losing control and escaping into a cow pasture.
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