RECKLESS: The Gonzalo Lopez Escape

Episode 1: The Eyewitness

Convicted killer and cartel hitman Gonzalo Lopez had nothing to lose when he escaped from a Texas Department of Criminal Justice transport bus near the small town of Centerville, Texas. A three-week search for the inmate brought the town to a halt and the TDCJ under scrutiny. On today's episode, Karla Castillo speaks to an eyewitness with the last known footage of Gonazlo Lopez, just before he disappeared into the woods.     As the frustrations of Centerville residents began to mount,  the TDCJ conducted its search.

Episode 2: The Expert

The Gonzalo Lopez escape highlighted several shortcomings of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. In particular, officers participated in "trafficking" as inmates were loaded onto the bus, and egregious understaffing (plus failures to adequately strip search inmates) allowed Gonzalo Lopez the opportunity to escape.    On today's episode, Karla Castillo speaks to professor Mitchel Roth of Sam Houston State University, who's an expert on law enforcement, prisons and gang crimes.

Episode 3: The Journalists

As a massive search for Gonzalo Lopez descended upon the town of Centerville, two KBTX reporters were on scene to report it: Morgan Riddell and Donnie Tuggle.  Every day, they tussled with representatives for the TDJC for up-to-date information. In today's episode of RECKLESS: The Gonzalo Lopez Escape, anchor Karla Castillo goes behind the scenes with Morgan and Donnie who detail what the scene was like day-to-day, and what chaos unfolded as the killer remained on the run.

RECKLESS: The Gonzalo Lopez Escape

Convicted killer and cartel hitman Gonzalo Lopez had nothing to lose when he escaped from a Texas Department of Criminal Justice transport bus near the small town of Centerville, Texas. A three-week search for the inmate brought the town to a halt and the TDCJ under scrutiny. The culmination of egregious security policy violations by TDCJ officers, a chaotic and confusing search and Lopez’s determination resulted in the murder of five people; a grandfather and his young grandsons. The horrific saga came to an end when Lopez was killed in a shoot out with law enforcement near San Antonio. But when the search ended, questions started.