An investigation led by The Marshall Report and Houston Chronicle shows several security failures leading up to Gonzalo Lopez’s prison bus escape earlier this year.
HOUSTON — A newly released investigation revealed staffing issues could have aided in Gonzalo Lopez’s escape from a prison bus earlier this year, according to the Houston Chronicle and The Marshall Project.
In May, Lopez escaped the bus and killed five family members at a home in Centerville, Texas.
What the report showed
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice said strip searches were performed on Lopez prior to his escape, however, they were not done in accordance with the policy.
State leaders said they weren’t shocked to hear the findings of the report.
“I don’t think this was really anything we didn’t know. It was just a lack of oversight. A lack of funding. A lack of training for the staff. It was a perfect storm for everything failing all at once,” Rep. Gene Wu said.
TDCJ said it is releasing its own report later this week.
How was Lopez able to escape
Lopez escaped custody by shedding his shackles and cutting through a metal barrier on a prison bus before stabbing a correctional officer. Video from a witness showed Lopez running through a wooded area.
Lopez was on the bus from Gatesville to Huntsville for a doctor’s appointment.
Lopez was killed in a shootout with officers after investigators said he killed the Collins family in Centerville.
RELATED: TDCJ: DNA evidence linking Gonzalo Lopez to area where family was killed came back after killings
Pictures released by TDCJ show a similar prison bus and the metal wire below the driver’s seat, where a spokesman said Lopez was able to break through, crawl on his stomach and attack the driver.
“The other inmates were creating a distraction on the bus by singing, yelling, sitting up and down and clapping their hands,” said Robert Hurst, a TDCJ spokesman.
Gonzalo Lopez escape timeline
Who was Gonzalo Lopez?
Lopez was serving back-to-back life sentences for shooting at a Webb County, Texas sheriff’s deputy in 2004 and killing a man with a pickax in Hidalgo County after holding him ransom on a drug debt.
Lopez managed to hide from law enforcement for an extended period of time on other occasions. In 2004, he was able to run away from a police chase in South Texas and stayed hidden with the help of a cartel associate, he told investigators at the time.