Collins, 66, was visiting the family’s weekend ranch in Leon County with four of his seven grandchildren: brothers Waylon, 18, Carson, 16, and Hudson, 11, and his cousin, 11-year-old Bryson Collins, when they were murdered by a convicted murderer who had been the subject of one of the largest human hunts for a runaway inmate in Texas history. 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,” the Harris County Sheriff’s Detective said. David Crain, a close friend of the family, told CNN affiliate KTRK-TV, describing them as “bright, shining stars.”
The family’s pastor, Steve Bezner, called Collins and his grandchildren an “amazing family” that was “united and of deep faith.”
Waylon Collins had graduated from Tomball High School a few days before his death, KTRK reported.
“The loss of one student, for whatever reason, is heartbreaking, but losing four in such a tragic way is unbearable,” Tomball Independent School District Superintendent Martha Salazar-Zamora said in a letter. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of these dear students and grandfather.”
On Friday, friends and family cried and shared hugs during the vigil at the Tomball School District Baseball Field, where Waylon was a minor league referee.
The suspect was a member of a violent prison gang
Lopez was killed in a shootout with authorities Thursday afternoon, hours after he was named a suspect in the murder of Collins and his grandchildren, authorities said. Investigators believe Lopez broke into the family’s home and stole a truck.
Lopez was driving that truck when it came off with a spike in the city of Jourdanton, said Jason Clark, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Lopez then faced a shootout with officers after the vehicle collided.
“He fired several rounds at officers and was armed with an AR-15 and a handgun,” Clark said, adding that the guns were probably also stolen from Collins’ ranch.
No officers were injured.
Lopez was affiliated with a powerful and violent prison gang known as the Mexican Mafia and had ties to San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley area, according to the state’s public safety department.
He had been convicted of manslaughter, attempted murder and aggravated kidnapping, the Texas Department of Homeland Security said. He was serving two life sentences for those sentences.
Collins’ ranch was within the perimeter searched by police after Lopez’s escape, which took place on May 12 near Centerville when he was taken from a Gatesville facility to another Huntsville unit for at a medical appointment.
Centerville is about 120 miles north of Houston, officials say.
Lopez was being driven to a separate, caged area of the jail bus, but he broke his restraints, cut the metal and crawled out of the bottom of the cage, officials said.
He assaulted the driver and forced the bus to stop, authorities said. They both got out of the vehicle and when another officer started approaching, Lopez got back on the bus and tried to pull him away.
Officers fired at the tires and stopped the vehicle, authorities said. Lopez then got off the bus and ran into the woods on Highway 7, according to authorities.
Lopez was on the list of the ten most wanted fugitives in the state, with authorities offering up to $ 50,000 for information leading to his capture.
CNN’s Andy Rose, Raja Razek, Chuck Johnston, Rebekah Riess, Caroll Alvarado, Sharif Paget, and Hannah Sarisohn contributed to this report.