The day after the Texas department of criminal justice (TDCJ) released the findings of two investigations of last May’s escape of inmate Gonzalo Lopez, TDCJ executive director Bryan Collier brought up during Friday’s meeting of the state prison board, Lopez’s escape and the murders of the Tomball area man and four grandsons at their vacation home near Centerville.
Bryan Collier said “This year, we had significant challenges in this agency. The Lopez escape and the senseless murders of the five members of the Collins family have changed each of us in this agency forever. I ask that your prayers be with the Collins family during this time in the holiday season.”
Click below for comments from Bryan Collier during the December 9, 2022 meeting of the Texas board of criminal justice.
Original story, December 8, 2022:
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) on Thursday released the reports of two investigations about the escape of inmate Gonzalo Lopez near Centerville last May.
Lopez eluded authorities from his escape on May 12 until he was killed June 2 following an exchange of gunfire with authorities south of San Antonio. That was after Lopez killed a Tomball area man and four of his grandchildren who were staying at a vacation home near Centerville.
The release of the reports on December 8 followed a meeting of a TDCJ serious incident review (SIR) committee on May 29 and the completion of an outside consultant’s report from the CGL organization in September.
Click HERE to read and download the TDCJ SIR report.
Click HERE to read and download the CGL consultant’s report.
TDCJ statement issued with the TDCJ and CGL reports:>
On May 12, 2022, Gonzalo Lopez escaped from Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) custody and, after remaining at large for 21 days, senselessly murdered five members of the Collins family.
The agency conducted an internal investigation into the incident and the series of missteps that led to the ability for Lopez to escape. The attached internal Serious Incident Review (SIR) describes the timeline of the incident and recommends solutions for issues that culminated in the escape. Additionally, the agency contracted an independent consultant group, CGL, to complete an outside investigation. The attached CGL report echoes the findings documented in the SIR.
“Public safety is the core mission of TDCJ, and as an agency, we failed to meet that mission,” TDCJ Executive Director Bryan Collier said. “The agency has worked diligently to hold ourselves accountable, identify the failures that led to the escape, and take steps to ensure it never happens again.”
Since the incident, TDCJ has taken numerous corrective measures to address the issues found in both the internal and external investigations.
Transportation
TDCJ reduced the transportation of inmates since the incident. To continue decreasing transportation, the agency is utilizing telemedicine and mobile health services, such as mobile MRI machines, CT scanners, physical therapy services and optometry services. The agency is continuing to review and reduce the number of transports.
For those transports that are necessary, TDCJ increased the number of correctional officers required in the vehicle to three. These staff now receive chemical agents as an additional tool for the transport. High-risk inmates, such as Lopez, are transported by themselves. Additionally, the agency is adding video surveillance to transportation vehicles to increase the ability for staff to monitor inmate activity during the trip.
Search Procedures
TDCJ updated procedures for conducting searches prior to transportation. Before boarding the vehicle, inmates are required to change into newly issued clothing, which is used specifically for transportation. Restrictive housing inmates, such as Lopez, are now transported in orange jumpsuits and slide-on shoes. These restrictive housing inmates are no longer allowed to have boots in their possession, unless medically ordered. Additionally, all inmates are required to go through body screening and all property must be searched prior to transportation. To ensure adherence to these new standard operating procedures, supervisors must verify these tasks have been completed.
Restraints
TDCJ reviewed all restraints with cuff protectors and discovered a specific combination of the two left the keyhole exposed. Since this finding, all necessary equipment was upgraded and the previous equipment removed from circulation.
Training
TDCJ established a multi-layered approach with built-in redundancies to ensure one action does not cause a failure in the entire process. The importance of these repetitions have been communicated to all agency leaders and correctional officers, and will be incorporated into unit assessments to ensure adherence. Since the incident, TDCJ has released new training focused on core competencies, search procedures, weapons training and inmate transportation that will be taken by appropriate staff.