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A convicted murderer who escaped last month from a prisoner bus in Texas was killed in a shootout with officers late Thursday, just hours after he was named the prime suspect in the killing of four children and an adult in a home in Leon County, officials said.
Gonzalo Lopez fled the home in a truck that was later disabled with a spike strip in the town of Jourdanton, Jason Clark with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said in a news conference Thursday night.
Lopez crashed the vehicle and then engaged in a firefight with officers, he said.
"He fired several rounds at officers and was armed with an AR-15 and a pistol," Clark said, adding they believe the firearms were likely stolen from the home in Centerville where the family was killed. No officers were injured.
Lopez had been convicted of capital murder, attempted capital murder and aggravated kidnapping, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. He was serving two life sentences for those convictions.
His escape May 12 near Centerville, about 120 miles north of Houston, sparked one of the largest search efforts for an escaped inmate in Texas history, according to officials.
Lopez was on the state's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List, and authorities offered up to $50,000 for information that would help toward his capture.
"He's got a life sentence for a capital murder, where he killed a man with a pickaxe and he's also gotten an attempted capital murder conviction for shooting a gun at a police officer," Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesperson Robert Hurst said during a news conference at the time, warning Lopez was "very dangerous."
Lopez was affiliated with the Mexican Mafia and had ties to the Rio Grande Valley area -- including Weslaco and Mercedes -- and San Antonio, the state's public safety department said.
Convicted murderer who escaped 3 weeks ago was killed by police hours after he was ID'd as suspect in killing of family of 5
A convicted murderer who escaped last month from a prisoner bus in Texas was killed in a shootout with officers late Thursday, just hours after he was named the prime suspect in the killing of four children and an adult in a home in Leon County, officials said.
edition.cnn.com
