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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Laura Sharman

Grandad and four grandkids murdered by Mexican mafia killer who escaped prison bus

A grandad and his four grandsons were killed by a Mexican mafia member who escaped from a prison bus in Texas.

Gonzalo Lopez, 46, murdered Mark Collins, 66, and his grandchildren Waylon, 18, Carson, 16, and 11-year-old twins Bryson and Hudson.

The jail breaker stole their vehicle, believed to be an unregistered farm truck, and was eventually killed in a shootout with police.

Lopez was captured on video escaping from the prison bus on May 12 and seen fleeing into nearby woodland.

Schoolboy Braxton Tieperman filmed the clip from the car with his mum Melanie when the crash happened in Leon Country, reports MailOnline.

The fourth grader can be heard saying: "Yo, we’ve seen the prisoner! What does it matter?"

When the escapee appears to run towards a property, he added: "Whoever is in that house might want to be careful."

Gonzalo Lopez. (Texas Department of Criminal Jus)

Lopez was jailed for life for a murder in 2005 and an attempted murder in 2004 after escaping from Leon County.

The prisoner reportedly escaped from a caged section of the prison bus which had been taking him from Gatesville to a medical appointment in Huntsville.

Melanie Tieperman later told KAGS TV : "There was an inmate in a white suit that was out of the bus, jumped the fence he then ran up the hill and into the woods.

"The Jewett police officer was there and he didn't try to pursue the inmate."

Lopez managed to wriggle free from his restrains, stab the driver and hijack the prison bus, according to authorities.

He then ploughed the bus into a cow pasture and fled into the woodland, going on to kill Mr Collins and his family in their cabin.

A relative told police that the grandfather, from Houston, was not answering his calls.

Authorities later spotted their stolen pickup 220 miles from the cabin on Thursday evening. A team in Atascosa County followed the truck while officers used spike strips to flatten its tyres.

Lopez was serving a life prison sentence before his escape (Click2Houston)

But Lopez kept driving and fired several shots from his rifle out the window before crashing into two telephone poles and a fence.

Sheriff David Soward said that the convict then left the trick and fired more rounds with at least four officers shooting back at him.

The prisoner was found to have a pistol and an AR-15-style rifle when he was shot and killed, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Mr Collins and his family were staying at their weekend home and were seen alive earlier in the day on June 2, reports CBS News.

Police believe Lopez murdered Mr Collins and his family and made off in their truck (Click2Houston)

Detectives believe Lopez hid in the woods and later broke into their home where they were slain.

"He broke into the residence and committed these murders," an official said.

Lopez possibly stole clothes and firearms from the family. Their bodies were found not far from where Lopez allegedly stabbed the driver of the prison bus

CCTV footage released by police shows Lopez before he boarded the bus three weeks ago.

Last week, the US Marshals Service released images of the prisoner's tattoos and offered a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to his capture.

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