A man, escaped from a Texas prison in mid-May and suspected of having killed an entire family during his run, was shot dead Thursday evening by the police, announced the authorities of this southern state of the United States.

The bodies of five people — an adult and four children — were found in a home near Centerville, a small town halfway between Houston and Dallas, the local sheriff said.

Fugitive Gonzalo Lopez was shot dead by police in Jourdanton, south of San Antonio, when police located the slain family's vehicle and managed to slash its tires with a harrow, a statement said. of the Texas Correctional Service.

Authorities had been searching for Gonzalo Lopez, 46, since he escaped on May 12 while being transferred by bus from one prison to another.

During the first days of his run, many members of the police had mobilized, especially on horseback in the Texas countryside, to find the detainee. It was the largest manhunt in recent state history. A $50,000 reward had been announced for any information leading to his whereabouts.

During transport on the prison bus, the prisoner, sentenced to life for a murder, had got rid of his restraints and sawed off the metal cage in which he had been placed before stabbing the driver and fleeing, near from where the slain family was found.