4 Tomball students, grandfather killed by Texas inmate in ambush are identified by authorities

A Houston-area grandfather and his four grandsons walked into a fatal ambush Thursday at the hands of a convicted murderer who escaped from a prison bus three weeks earlier and had broken into the family’s weekend getaway home in Centerville, leaving friends and relatives “beyond devastated.” Gonzalo Lopez, 46, escaped the bus on May 12, prompting a three-week search that only ended after he killed 66-year-old Mark Collins, 18-year-old Waylon Collins, 16-year-old Carson, their younger brother Hudson; and their cousin, Bryson Collins, both 11, officials said. “The loss is unbearable,” the grandfather’s brother-in-law wrote on Facebook. In a statement, the Leon County Sheriffs Office said Lopez “entered the residence sometime on Thursday and gained access to several firearms on the property” before killing five people. LOPEZ ESCAPE: Texas inmate who escaped bus got out of restraints, cage Tomball ISD confirmed that all four boys were students in the district this school year. Police, alerted by a relative that had not heard from the grandfather, discovered the five bodies around 6 p.m. Immediately suspecting Lopez and with details of a pickup missing from the residence — and possibly missing firearms — police sent out a statewide alert for the 1999 Chevy Silverado. Identifying the truck and warning that Lopez had ties to San Antonio and the Rio Grade Valley is what allowed police to eventually close in. An investigator and deputy sheriff from Atascosa County, south of San Antonio, spotted the truck on Texas 16 a few miles north of Poteet and matched the license plate to the Leon County alert, said Atascosa County Sheriff David Soward. “These officers were instructed not to alert the suspect and to tail him until backup officers could get to the Jourdanton area,” Soward wrote in a statement prepared by his office. The Jourdanton Police Chief laid spike strips across the highway, which Lopez drove over, puncturing all of the truck’s tires, Soward said. From there, Soward said Lopez tried to flee but numerous police had begun a dogged pursuit that at one point led Lopez to cut through a field and then back onto Texas 16. As he entered the city limits of Jourdanton, Soward said Lopez “stuck a semi-automatic rifle out the truck's window and fired shots at pursuing officers, before he drove into a utility pole, lost control and plowed through a chain link fence. Lopez then emerged from the truck armed with a rifle and a handgun and began firing at officers. Four county police, three from the sheriff’s office, returned fire, killing Lopez. None of the officers were struck, with Soward saying the only direct hit by Lopez was to a patrol vehicle’s windshield. The shootout ended a three-week search for Lopez, who was able to cut his way out of restraints and a cage on a prison bus to stab a bus driver for the corrections department. The two tussled as Lopez tried to run away, while a second corrections officer exited the back of the bus and headed toward the front. At that moment, Lopez leaped back onto the bus and drove away. The corrections officers were able to incapacitate the bus, but could not catch Lopez before he ran into the surrounding woods. Over the days, numerous police agencies including the U.S. Marshals Service canvassed the area, assuming Lopez remained in Leon County, said Jason Clark, chief of staff for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. They warned residents he should be considered extremely dangerous. “Lopez is a killer,” Clark said about an hour before his capture. “He has a disregard for human life, we know that.” Clark said authorities were still assessing the Centerville home, and were unsure if Lopez was in the home when the family arrived, or entered later once they were present. “He was able to stay within the woods, get into the residence for food and water and perhaps change his clothes,” Clark said, adding it was likely he was on the property for days and perhaps went in and out of the home. Lopez was a former member of the Mexican Mafia criminal enterprise with ties to the Rio Grande Valley and San Antonio areas, police said. Officials do not believe Lopez had any connection to the family. They suspect the weapons Lopez had likely came from the family’s home. He was serving a life sentence from a 2006 conviction for capital murder and aggravated kidnapping in Hidalgo County. He was also given a life sentence following a 2007 conviction for attempted capital murder in Webb County. “We are breathing a sigh of relief Lopez will not be able to harm anyone else,” Clark said. dug.begley@chron.com - Houston couple arrested in starvation, beating death of 8-year-old girl whose twin also was abused - Bombshell 400-page report finds Southern Baptist leaders routinely silenced sexual abuse survivors - Houston federal judge asked to recuse himself after alleged racist and sexist comments - Concerns over intellectual disability arise ahead of Harris County defendant’s execution - Man detained in fatal stabbing of wife in Katy home, authorities say

4 Tomball students, grandfather killed by Texas inmate in ambush are identified by authorities

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