LEON COUNTY, Texas (Washington Insider Magazine) – Officials say a convicted murderer escaped in Texas early Thursday after attacking a prison bus driver and fleeing after the vehicle veered off the road.
Gonzalo Lopez, 46, was being hunted after escaping from the smashed automobile on Thursday afternoon in rural Leon County, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Lopez broke free from his handcuffs and entered the driver’s compartment, stabbing the driver in the hand with a tool, according to agency spokesperson Robert Hurst.
According to him, the officer’s injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
According to Hurst, the bus crashed around a mile and a half from Centerville on Texas State Highway 7.
Lopez was able to acquire the driver’s firearm for a short while during the scuffle, but he did not shoot, the weapon was recovered, according to Hurst.
Other detainees were aboard the vehicle, but they remained cuffed, and no one else managed to get away, he said.
One officer was steering and the other was in the back of the bus. Other than the officer who was wounded in the hand, Hurst said there had been no other injuries, reported NBC NEWS.
Lopez took refuge in a ranching and farming area halfway between Dallas and Houston.
Lopez is serving life in prison for attempted capital murder and capital murder, according to authorities. According to agency records, he was convicted in 2006 for the killing the previous year.
Lopez managed to break free from his handcuffs and enter a cage-like area in which the driver was stationed, according to Hurst.
Anybody who spots him is advised to call 911 and not to confront him or attempt to apprehend him, according to officials. Anyone suspicious should be reported to the local ranches and farms. Lopez was last spotted on foot, Hurst said, wearing a white prison uniform.
Hurst claimed Lopez was being detained at a penitentiary in Gatesville and that the bus was headed to Huntsville. Lopez stated that he was being relocated due to a medical appointment.
Image via NBC News
