By Tyler Clifford
(Reuters) – Texas authorities on Friday were on the hunt for an inmate serving a life sentence who escaped from a prison bus after stabbing a corrections officer, hijacking the vehicle filled with other inmates and fleeing when it crashed.
Gonzalo Lopez, 46, who was convicted of a 2005 murder and attempted murder of a police officer, made his escape in Leon County, about 110 miles north of Houston. He is believed to be unarmed but dangerous.
The incident unfolded when Lopez broke into the driver’s compartment of the bus and stabbed the officer who was driving in the hand with an unknown object, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesperson Robert Hurst. It was unclear how Lopez had freed himself of his restraints, Hurst said.
A tussle ensued between the driver and the inmate, spilling outside the bus, where Lopez attempted but failed to grab the officer’s gun, Hurst said. The inmate then jumped into the driver’s seat and started to drive off.
At that time a corrections officer stationed in a back compartment jumped out the emergency door and shot out the back tires of the bus with a shotgun, but Lopez was able to continue driving for about a mile before the vehicle crashed.
The officers ran down the highway and caught up to the vehicle, firing in Lopez’s direction as he ran across a cow pasture, the spokesperson said. Authorities are uncertain if Lopez was struck by any bullets.
The transport bus was carrying 16 inmates on its way from a prison in Gatesville to Huntsville where Lopez was scheduled for a medical appointment.
The incident comes days after an Alabama convict escaped from a county jail with a female corrections officer with whom he had a “special relationship,” authorities said. On Wednesday, the pair were captured in Indiana. The officer had shot herself during the pursuit and later died of her wounds.
(Reporting by Tyler Clifford; Editing by Alistair Bell)
