Texas Prison Being Understaffed Entices Bus Escapes and Family Massacres
Inquiries into what went wrong have centered on one aspect seven months after one of the bloodiest prison escapes in the country occurred in Texas: The prison system of the state is dangerously understaffed.
Gonzalo Lopez, a convicted killer, managed to get out of his restraints on May 12 while aboard a prison transport bus in Central Texas, cut into the driver’s compartment, and stabbed the driver with an improvised weapon.
According to a published post by KMBC News, he took the officer’s gun, beat him outside, and then took over the bus. He drove it for about a mile before it crashed, at which point he fled on foot.
Lopez had been hiding out for many weeks, on June 2, authorities doing a welfare check at a cabin in the region, discovered Mark Collins and his four grandkids, aged 11 to 18, dead and their truck gone.
Critically Understaffed Prison Invites Bus Escapes and Family Murders. (Photo:KENS 5)
The Conclusion of A Grave Prison Escape
Lopez was killed in a gunfight that night after deputies south of San Antonio noticed the truck and halted it with spike strips. State officials and members of the community were shocked and incensed by the tragedy.
The Collins family intends to sue the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for its role in the deaths of their loved ones, an agency spokesperson confirmed on Friday. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has requested a Texas Rangers investigation.
