Collins, 66, visits a family ranch over the weekend in Leon County with four of his seven grandchildren, brothers Whelan, 18, Carson, 16, and Hudson, 11, and their cousin, Bryson Collins, 11. They were killed there by a convicted murderer. , who was the subject of one of the largest searches for an escaped prisoner in the history of Texas. Gonzalo Lopez, who escaped from a prison bus last month, was later killed in a shootout with officers. “What happened to the Collins family is indescribable,” said Harris County Sheriff’s Detective. David Crane, a close friend of the family, told CNN affiliates KTRK-TV, describing them as “bright, shining stars”.
The pastor of the family, Steve Besner, called Collins and his grandchildren “an amazing family” that is “united and with deep faith.”
Whelan Collins graduated from Tomball High School just days before his death, KTRK reported.
“The loss of a student for any reason is heartbreaking, but the loss of four in such a tragic way is painful,” said in a letter the independent superintendent of the independent Tombol school district, Marta Salazar-Zamora. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of these beloved students and grandfather.”
On Friday, friends and family shed tears and shared hugs during a vigil on the baseball field in the Tomball school district, where Whelan was a minor league referee.
The suspect is a member of a violent prison gang
Lopez was killed in a shootout with authorities late Thursday, hours after he was declared a suspect in the murder of Collins and his grandchildren, officials said. Investigators believe Lopez broke into the family home and stole a truck.
Lopez was driving the truck when it was banned with a spiked tape in the town of Jourdanten, said Jason Clark, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Lopez then got into a shootout with police after crashing into the car.
“He fired several rounds at officers and was armed with an AR-15 and a pistol,” Clark said, adding that the firearms were probably also stolen from Collins Ranch.
No employees were injured.
Lopez was linked to a powerful and brutal prison gang known as the Mexican Mafia, and had ties to San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley, according to the state’s Department of Public Safety.
He was convicted of death, attempted aggravated murder and aggravated kidnapping, the Texas Department of Public Safety said. He is serving two life sentences for those sentences.
Collins’ ranch was on the perimeter, police searched after Lopez’s escape on May 12 near Centerville as he was taken from a Gatesville facility to another unit in Huntsville for a medical appointment.
Centerville is about 190 miles north of Houston, according to officials.
Lopez was driven in a separate area with a cage on the prison bus, but escaped from his restraints, cut through the metal and crawled out of the bottom of the cage, officials said.
He attacked the driver and forced the bus to stop, authorities said. The two got out of the vehicle, and as another officer approached, Lopez returned to the bus and tried to drive him away.
Officers fired on the tires and stopped the car, authorities said. Lopez then left the bus and fled into the woods off Highway 7, authorities said.
Lopez was on the state’s ten most wanted fugitives, with authorities offering up to $ 50,000 for information leading to his capture.
CNN’s Andy Rose, Raja Razek, Chuck Johnston, Rebecca Rhys, Carol Alvarado, Sharif Paget and Hannah Sarrison contributed to this report.
Add Comment