TX - Escaped convicted murderer, stabbed guard, 12 May 22; murdered family of 5, Centerville, shot dead near SA, 2 JUNE 2022

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Lack of communication method with pickup people; misdirection of contact point. Area too hot,
with LEO too quick. He had mucked up the escape plan, leave him to it.
This thing got out of hand unexpectedly during the actual fighting and him trying to drive away.
There was probably a set up for him to commandeer the bus for a distance before abandoning.
Had he been able to disable the driver; toss him off, he could have driven to Dallas (fuel allowing)
as the rear guard could not get out of the moving bus (without being disabled and left behind) and could not fire a shotgun at Lopez due to the "cheering" prisoners between. I have some doubt on this portion of the others helping cover. If I am not getting to go, why should I help. Consider the discipline when we are returned to the prison.
The truth; if ever known, will probably be stranger than we even imagine.
 
OldAce said:
Lack of communication method with pickup people; misdirection of contact point. Area too hot,
with LEO too quick. He had mucked up the escape plan, leave him to it.
This thing got out of hand unexpectedly during the actual fighting and him trying to drive away.
There was probably a set up for him to commandeer the bus for a distance before abandoning.
Had he been able to disable the driver; toss him off, he could have driven to Dallas (fuel allowing)
as the rear guard could not get out of the moving bus (without being disabled and left behind) and could not fire a shotgun at Lopez due to the "cheering" prisoners between. I have some doubt on this portion of the others helping cover. If I am not getting to go, why should I help. Consider the discipline when we are returned to the prison.
The truth; if ever known, will probably be stranger than we even imagine.
Click to expand...
A few of us discussed this earlier -- GL was a has been.

IMO, GL had already been imprisoned for more than 16 years -- he was off the streets, not earning, and forgotten. I'm not surprised that in 3 weeks, he had no help, nobody came to his aid, and he died alone!

A lifer, GL had nothing to lose by attempting this escape. Perhaps for a few weeks, before he put his plan into action, he garnered an ounce of street/prison cred from a young inmate that made him feel relevant. MOO
 
I still can’t wrap my head around this. I live here and it’s so sickening.

montgomerycountypolicereporter.com

Homicide ruled in deaths of Houston-area grandfather and his 4 grandsons in Centerville

CENTERVILLE, Texas (KTRK) -- A week after law enforcement discovered the bodies of a Houston-area grandfather and his four young grandsons, medical examiners disclosed that all five died of gunshot and stab wounds. Homicide was ruled as the manner of death for Mark Collins and his grandsons -...
montgomerycountypolicereporter.com
 
Dotta said:
"In front of a packed church, the family admitted that there is only one word to describe their feelings- devastation."

abc13.com

'We're going to be OK': Community pays respects to family of five killed by an escaped inmate

Saturday's service was filled with tears but also laughter as the community remembered a grandfather and four boys who lit up their world.
abc13.com abc13.com
Click to expand...
A whole generation wiped out!

All of Chris & Misti's children died:

Waylon, who had just graduated from Tomball High School, was a charismatic, baseball-loving leader, idolized by his younger brothers and cousins.

Carson, who at just 16 years old was described as a man among boys, was tender-hearted and loved football.

Hudson was the 11-year-old snuggler. He was intelligent, empathetic, and loved golf. Hudson was baptized in the family pool just days before his death.

Dustin & Shelta lost one of their two sons:

And 11-year-old Bryson, who was everyone's best friend, loved being a big brother and who, for his 6th birthday, requested a Jesus-themed party.

This was totally preventable by TDCJ.

Loving parents with bustling households of active boys now faced with loss of the hopes & dreams of their children's futures.

Their faith is strong but their loss is immeasurable, far reaching & never ending.

Accountability will never bring justice because these precious lives are over & that is an unchanging fact.

JMO
 
Do these holiday houses have alarms installed?

With direct line to Security Company and Police?

In such cases, the owners are always notified if there was a burglary attempt.
 
Dotta said:
Do these holiday houses have alarms installed?

With direct line to Security Company and Police?

In such cases, the owners are always notified if there was a burglary attempt.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking not very likely. Centerville, population 900-1,000 is described as 100% rural where everybody knows each other, and town activities are centered around school events. My folks live in a similar area where the most reliable security system is typically your neighbor. However, I do think that post-pandemic, we will be seeing many changes for small communities as reliable internet is extended to reach forgotten rural areas, providing for better surveillance and security. MOO

 
kimmo said:
Texas Resumes Inmate Transport Under Revised Protocols After Escapee Murders Tomball Family
Click to expand...
Wonderful policy changes, way after a terrible cost in lives. Will it be implemented with people capable of watching inmates within 20 feet so they do not "cut metal cages and partition" with some "sharp instrument". We still have not had explained what this "sharp" instrument that cuts flesh and metal so easily actually was.
Hard to believe that mesh doorway was cut, large enough for a man to crawl thru, without the driver being aware. And if aware he could easily have drawn his pistol; simply reached down, stuck it to his head and shot him right there as he crawled thru. The story does not add up.

1655230585957.png
 
OldAce said:
Wonderful policy changes, way after a terrible cost in lives. Will it be implemented with people capable of watching inmates within 20 feet so they do not "cut metal cages and partition" with some "sharp instrument". We still have not had explained what this "sharp" instrument that cuts flesh and metal so easily actually was.
Hard to believe that mesh doorway was cut, large enough for a man to crawl thru, without the driver being aware. And if aware he could easily have drawn his pistol; simply reached down, stuck it to his head and shot him right there as he crawled thru. The story does not add up.

View attachment 349382
Click to expand...
RBBM

No, this story does not add up. The changes appear minor to me. Complacency by employees? Criminal acts? Complacency that rises to the level of criminal acts?

Those buses are back on the roads. As to more prisoners being treated onsite on a more permanent basis, I am not convinced. If they can now do that, why was mass transport the norm just a few weeks ago?

The Texas legislature meets in Jan. 2023. TDCJ reforms need to be a priority. This stand down was much too short for any real change to occur & the staffing shortage that put only two officers on a bus still exists.

Investigate further, hold hearings, ask hard questions, put accountability for changes in place.

Perhaps a quarterly report to the public with specifics so that ongoing monitoring has an impact on the faults of human nature that drive these incidents of negligence?

Without an ongoing spotlight on causes and remedies, more innocent lives will be lost. And that is completely & utterly unacceptable.

I think management at TDCJ needs to be put on notice & change needs to start there. If the head of the agency rode on one of these buses occasionally (with no notice given) that would be a start.

MOO

ETA: I am not assuming cartel money or other criminal conduct was not involved. The investigation needs to be comprehensive.
 
There is a looming problem for TDCJ. Unless they announce their plans for a very detailed investigation in to this escape; and the assurance (with a timetable) of a transparent release of the findings, all their creditability and with other levels of LE will suffer.
These should include pictures of the bus interior, the actual restraints in use, and the actual severed portions of the cage and partitions.
Nothing they have offered so far as "was able to escape his restraints" and cut openings with a "sharp instrument" are possible by him alone. It is unreasonable to believe that a tool could have been concealed on his person; during any routine search, that would perform the results. Equally unreasonable that he could have fabricated a "homemade" key that would fit the black box, handcuff and leg iron locks. Were they all keyed alike or different?

Totally unrelated as to actual activity, but the dissemination of information in Uvalde adds to this
puzzle. Why such varied and different offerings by high ranking officials with the complete reversal of some releases within the hour. It leaves the impression that no one knew what actually happened and in what sequence. Again, a comedy of errors immediately portrayed.

All this is to say this... It is sad that levels of politics has so hamstrung the working LE of TX that they appear to be so inept. Sheriffs and city police department deserve a better accounting for their benefit of daily meeting these kinds of these type situations and in most cases handling them very efficiently.

Take away is this...the public is being/has been lied too.
 
CocoChanel said:
Investigative reporters find failures at TDCJ led to deadly prisoner escape
Click to expand...
Summarized by me in bullets below
Among the article's key findings from a series of interviews and public records were that
  • Prison officials skimped on staffing for a bus with high-security prisoners
  • Guards skipped both of the two strip searches
  •  Guards skipped a scan with metal detectors that might have uncovered two shanks Lopez hid in his pants
  • Officers initially incorrectly thought another prison on the bus was the escapee.
 
CocoChanel said:
Investigative reporters find failures at TDCJ led to deadly prisoner escape
Click to expand...
"TDCJ is aware of the report today from the Houston Chronicle and Marshall Project. The internal and external reports into the Gonzalo Lopez escape will be released by the agency later this week."

Looks like some high-ranking officials at TDJC need to resign. I hope the legislature will hold hearings & demand reforms in the upcoming 2023 legislative session.

A family lost five people, most very young. Accountability is a must.
JMO
 
Last edited:
CocoChanel said:
How Texas Failed To Prevent One of the Nation’s Deadliest Prison Escapes

More details about how the escape happened.
Click to expand...
That is like something out of a bad movie plot & yet it really happened.

What puzzles me is the two guards putting themselves in mortal danger. Complacency is one thing. Negligence is another.

As stated:
When Leon County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Victor Smith arrived sometime after 1 p.m., the guards still couldn’t figure out who had escaped. Smith “requested the name of the escapee but the two guards at the scene could not provide it,” he wrote in a report. “The guards at some point provided a ‘travel card’ for inmate Michael Wages and stated that this could be the escaped inmate but could not be sure.”

Wow.
 
Were the guards careless or just working with what they had? Staffs have been short and people will cut corners for better or worse.
 
worm said:
Were the guards careless or just working with what they had? Staffs have been short and people will cut corners for better or worse.
Click to expand...
Both if you read the details. GL got on the bus with two shanks - easily preventable by quick metal screening. I still want to know how he got out of his cuffs & shackles. It's such a total failure.

Plus transporting someone like GL to far away medical appointments is absurd. They basically allowed him to exploit every protocol failure he observed over a long period of time.

This was preventable MASS MURDER.
MOO
 
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