Search for a convicted murderer who escaped in Texas after allegedly attacking the policeman who was driving the prison bus

Gonzalo López, the inmate who escaped, has convictions for murder and attempted murder. (CNN) – Convicted murderer Gonzalo Lopez is on the run in Leon County, Texas, after escaping from a prison bus and assaulting a jail officer, authorities said Thursday. Lopez, 46, was serving a life sentence for murder and attempted murder sentences, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). The leak occurred on Highway 7 near Centerville, which is about 120 miles north of Houston, around 1:20 pm, according to department officials. As the shuttle bus headed from Gatesville to Huntsville, Lopez managed to free himself from his restraints and approach the driver, Trooper Randy Smith, TDCJ spokesman Robert Hurst said. “They got into a physical altercation while Officer Smith was driving the bus. He (Lopez) stabbed Officer Smith in the left hand with some type of object,” Hurst said at a news conference broadcast by CNN affiliate KBTX. Smith wrestled with him trying to keep him from getting his service revolver, his gun.” Hurst said Smith prevented the inmate from getting his gun and the bus stopped. “The inmate got out of the bus, the other inmates were still in their seats. , still in his restraints,” he said. The other officer in the vehicle, Jimmy Brinegar, fired his service weapon and a shotgun at the fleeing inmate, according to Hurst. “We don’t know if the inmate received any of these shots. The last time we saw him, he was fleeing through the grass fields west of Centerville.” could prove deadly, he said. The Centerville school district went into “a precautionary lockdown” after the breakout, with elementary students temporarily held in their school’s gym and high school students in its library, before they were released. allowed to return home, according to statements posted on Facebook. Both schools will be closed Friday due to “the current situation west of I45 and Highway 7,” the school district said. In an earlier briefing, Hurst urged the public to not try to stop Lopez. “This man is someone who should not be trifled with. I strongly advise anyone in the public to lock their vehicles, lock their doors. We don’t know if he has obtained any kind of weapon,” Hurst insisted.