The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has temporarily suspended the transport of inmates as they review their transportation procedures.
The decision comes days after five members of a Houston-area family were murdered in a home in Centerville, Texas after Gonzalo Lopez, 46, escaped from a prison bus several weeks earlier while being taken to a doctor’s appointment.
Lopez, a cartel member convicted of capital murder, killed a man and his four grandsons, then stole an AR-15-style rifle and a pistol from their ranch near Centerville, as well as a truck and drove to Atascosa County south of San Antonio, authorities said.
Lopez led officers on a brief chase in the stolen truck before he was finally gunned down in a shootout with officers.
“If it becomes necessary to do a transport such as releasing or an emergency medical appointment, additional security measures will be implemented. The agency is conducting an internal Serious Incident Review and also intends to bring in an outside firm to conduct an independent review to identify factors that may have led to the escape of Lopez,” a statement from the department said.