Photo: Texas Department of Criminal Justice
A convicted murderer who escaped custody three weeks ago died in a shootout with police in Texas. The Leon County Sheriff's Office said they were asked to conduct a welfare check at a home near where Gonzalo Lopez escaped from a prison bus on May 12.
When officers searched the home on Thursday (June 2), they found the bodies of four children and one adult. Investigators said that Lopez broke into the house and killed the family before stealing clothes, firearms, and a 1999 white Chevrolet Silverado.
Later that night, deputies from the Atascosa County Sheriff's Office located the stolen truck and tried to detain him. Lopez fled and was stopped after officers deployed a spike strip, flattening all four tires.
Lopez pointed a rifle at the officers and fired several shots. The officers returned fire and fatally shot Lopez.
"We received additional information from the U.S. Marshals Service that he may be in the San Antonio area. So then we heightened our alert and, sure enough, we spotted him," Atascosa County Sheriff David Soward said at a press conference. "This dangerous individual is off the street, and no officers were injured."
Lopez was serving two life sentences following convictions of capital murder and attempted capital murder in 2006 and 2007.