A man who escaped from a Texas jail in mid-May and is suspected of killing an entire family during his run was shot dead by police Thursday night, authorities in that southern United States state said.
The bodies of five people — an adult and four children — were found in a home near Centerville, a small town halfway between Houston and Dallas, the local sheriff said.
Fugitive Gonzalo Lopez was shot dead by police in Jourdanton, south of San Antonio, when police located the slain family’s vehicle and managed to slash its tires with a harrow, the Texas Correctional Service said in a statement.
Authorities had been looking for Gonzalo Lopez, 46, since he escaped on May 12 while being transferred by bus from one prison to another.
During the first days of his escape, many members of the police force were mobilized, particularly on horseback in the Texas countryside, to find the prisoner. It was the largest manhunt in recent state history. A $50,000 reward had been announced for information leading to his whereabouts.
While being transported on the prison bus, the inmate sentenced to life imprisonment for murder had removed his shackles and sawed off the metal cage in which he had been placed before stabbing the driver and escaping near where the murdered family was found.