Texas inmates started ‘singing and dancing’ to distract guards during Gonzalo Lopez’s escape from prison transport van, official says

A Texas fugitive accused of killing five people after escaping a prison transport van used a “prison-made knife and key” to bust out of his restraints and confront the guards onboard, according to officials.

Gonzalo Lopez also had the help of other inmates, who created a distraction in the moments before his prison break on May 12. They started “singing and jumping up and down” as Lopez freed himself and then stabbed a guard driving him from a correctional facility in Gatesville to another in Huntsville for a medical appointment, Sen. John Whitmire told KXXV 25 News.

Authorities said the bus eventually crashed on Texas State Highway 7, about a mile and a half from Centerville, forcing Lopez to flee on foot. He remained missing for weeks before he was eventually found and killed in a shootout with law enforcement the night of June 2.

While none of the other 15 inmates are board managed to escape, Whitmire said they could face additional charges in connection with the plot.

“Lopez was the worst of the worse,” said Whitmire, noting that “huge mistakes were made.”

Shortly before his final confrontation with law enforcement, Lopez, who was convicted in 2006 of murdering another man along the Texas-Mexico border, killed a family staying in their vacation cabin in Centerville. They have been identified as Mark Collins, 66; Waylon Collins, 18; Carson Collins, 16; Hudson Collins, 11; and Bryson Collins, 11.

Mark was the grandfather of all four boys. Waylon, Carson and Hudson were brothers while Bryson was their cousin. All four attended Tomball Independent School District in a Houston suburb; from where Waylon had just graduated.

Authorities currently believe there was no connection between Lopez and the Collins family.