Gonzalo Lopez: Everything we know about the escaped murderer who killed five

Shoot-out came weeks after he broke free from prison bus

Texas authorities have announced the death of Gonzalo Lopez, 46, who escaped from a prison bus last month.

A shoot-out took place between police and Lopez in Jourdanton, about 35 miles south of San Antonio, on Thursday night.

It came after police found the stolen vehicle of a family of five, whom he allegedly killed.

No other injuries were reported and details are still emerging about the murder convict and former gang member.

Here’s everything you need to know:

How did he escape from prison?

Lopez went missing on 12 May after he escaped from a prison bus travelling between Gatesville and Huntsville, Texas, while on his way to a medical appointment.

Although Lopez was in a caged area of the bus, authorities said he was able to free himself from his hand and leg restraints and cut through the metal cage.

He then crawled under the metal cage and attacked the driver of the bus, who stopped and got into an altercation with Lopez on the roadside.

The driver suffered stab wounds, which authorities said were not life threatening.

Lopez got back on the bus as a second officer approached the pair and drove away, although police were able to disable the vehicle by shooting at its rear tire.

The stolen truck

(AP)

He escaped on foot into the woods in Leon County, between Dallas and Houston, and police issued an alert of his disappearance with a $50,000 reward for information.

How was he located?

Lopez had been hiding in a cabin belonging to a Houston family, south of Centerville, the Leon County capitol.

He was thought to have killed one adult and four minors at the cabin on Thursday morning before stealing their white pick-up truck.

A concerned family member alerted police to their possible disappearance and officers arrived at the Cabin on Thursday evening to find them deceased. Their vehicle was missing, however.

Police later found Lopez in the “stolen vehicle, disabled it with spike strips, and gunfire ensued,” said Texas’s criminal justice department.

He was killed in that exchange.

What was Lopez’s history?

Lopez was a former member of the Mexican Mafia prison gang and had ties to South Texas, said Jason Clark, spokesman for the Texas criminal justice department.

An undated photo of Gonzalo Lopez

(AP)

He was serving a life sentence for murdering a man along the Texas-Mexico border in 2005, and was convicted in 2006.

According to The Hill, his criminal record suggested multiple prior aggravated assaults and other offenses including marijuana profession.

Lopez was being held at a prison in Gatesville, more than 100 miles from where he escaped on 12 May.

Who are the family of five?

The names of his victims, who are reportedly from Houston, have not been named.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press.