Texas authorities hunt for convicted murderer who hijacked prison bus and fled
By Tyler Clifford
(Reuters) – Texas authorities on Friday have been on the hunt for an inmate serving a life sentence who escaped from a jail bus after stabbing a corrections officer, hijacking the automobile stuffed with different inmates and fleeing when it crashed.
Gonzalo Lopez, 46, who was convicted of a 2005 homicide and tried homicide of a police officer, made his escape in Leon County, about 110 miles north of Houston. He’s believed to be unarmed however harmful.
The incident unfolded when Lopez broke into the driving force’s compartment of the bus and stabbed the officer who was driving within the hand with an unknown object, in accordance with Texas Division of Prison Justice spokesperson Robert Hurst. It was unclear how Lopez had freed himself of his restraints, Hurst mentioned.
A tussle ensued between the driving force and the inmate, spilling exterior the bus, the place Lopez tried however didn’t seize the officer’s gun, Hurst mentioned. The inmate then jumped into the driving force’s seat and began to drive off.
At the moment a corrections officer stationed in a again compartment jumped out the emergency door and shot out the again tires of the bus with a shotgun, however Lopez was capable of proceed driving for a few mile earlier than the automobile crashed.
The officers ran down the freeway and caught as much as the automobile, firing in Lopez’s route as he ran throughout a cow pasture, the spokesperson mentioned. Authorities are unsure if Lopez was struck by any bullets.
The transport bus was carrying 16 inmates on its method from a jail in Gatesville to Huntsville the place Lopez was scheduled for a medical appointment.
The incident comes days after an Alabama convict escaped from a county jail with a feminine corrections officer with whom he had a “particular relationship,” authorities mentioned. On Wednesday, the pair have been captured in Indiana. The officer had shot herself throughout the pursuit and later died of her wounds.
(Reporting by Tyler Clifford; Modifying by Alistair Bell)
