Authorities are still searching for a convicted murderer who reportedly stabbed the driver of a prison transport bus while escaping earlier this month in Texas.
Gonzalo Lopez, 46, escaped custody on May 12, and since then, the U.S. Marshals Service has announced a combined reward of up to $50,000 for information that leads to his capture.
Lopez was serving a life sentence and being transported to a medical appointment on the day of his escape, according to a Texas Department of Criminal Justice press release.
According to the release, Lopez was in a bus designated for high-risk inmates when he freed himself from the hand and leg restraints he was wearing. He then cut through the expanded metal of the cage and crawled out the bottom, the department said.
A spokesman for the department, Robert Hurst, shared that "he's crafty" and that "he's done this before down in South Texas in Webb County," when "he hid out for almost nine days."
After getting out of the caged area, he attacked the driver who stopped the bus and got into an altercation with him before the two got off the bus.
The altercation led to the driver being stabbed and wounded in the hand and chest, according to the department's chief of staff, Jason Clark. He added that the wounds were not life-threatening.
Lopez was then approached by another officer who was at the rear of the bus and had exited it. But after seeing the officer, Lopez got back on the bus and started driving it down the road, according to the department.
Officers then began firing at the bus, disabling it by shooting at the rear tire, and then it traveled a short distance before leaving the roadway, the department said. It was at that point he exited the bus and ran into the woods.
Onboard the bus were 16 other prisoners, none of whom escaped, according to the department.
Anyone with information on Lopez's whereabouts is encouraged to contact the U.S. Marshals Service at 1-800-336-0102 or your local law enforcement agency at 911.
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