An inmate serving a life sentence for capital murder who escaped on Thursday after attacking an officer and causing a transport bus to crash is being hunted in Texas.
According to law enforcement, Gonzalo Lopez, 46, assaulted a correctional officer while on a transport bus, which crashed outside of Centerville, Texas, on the way to a medical appointment. Lopez is serving a life sentence for capital murder and attempted capital murder. He also has previously been convicted of aggravated assault multiple times.
Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Robert Hurst said Lopez "was somehow able to get out of his shackles and get into the driver's compartment of the bus.”
Hurst said Lopez "was able to overpower the driver. There was a struggle ... the bus went off the roadway.”
The officer who had been driving the bus was stabbed in the hand, according to Hurst, before Lopez jumped from the bus and ran off.
"We do not know if he has obtained any kind of a weapon," Hurst said. "Last we saw him he did not appear to have a weapon in his possession, but who knows what he might've been able to get."
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the Texas Office of the Inspector General, along with other law enforcement agencies, announced on Thursday that their officers are “searching for the inmate near Highway 7 westbound in Leon County approximately 1.5 miles from Interstate 45. Lopez is serving a life sentence for capital murder out of Hidalgo County and attempted capital murder out of Webb County. If you spot Lopez, immediately contact 911 and do not approach him.”
In an update early Friday morning, the Leon County Sheriff’s Office said: “Suspect still at large. Numerous agencies still working together to apprehend [the] subject, including DPS Aircrafts. We are working in the area north of Hwy 7, closely in the area between CR 317 & CR 320.”
© 2022 Newsmax. All rights reserved.