Woman who witnessed, has recording of last month's inmate escape says she's heard nothing from TDCJ
MADISONVILLE, Texas - "I told Braxton this inmate is running from this bus he's escaping I said get your camera out," said Melanie Tieperman.
What Tieperman saw, and her 11-year-old son recorded, doesn't match with what TDCJ says happened on May 12 when convicted killer inmate Gonzalo Lopez escaped.
TDCJ says the two guards on the bus chased after Lopez and fired shots at him.
Tieperman says she saw Lopez running across a cow pasture and no officers were chasing him, and she didn't hear any gunshots.
"I was concerned about the guards that I knew should have been on the bus, not coming out or where were they," she said.
Melanie's husband, Dr. Robert Tieperman, says a law enforcement source told him four days before the Collin's family was murdered, evidence was found proving Lopez had been in a cabin near the Collin's house,
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"It was confirmed the house was broken into. There's mud trails in the house, a water bucket in the shower, food missing, money missing, and a shotgun missing," he said.
The Tiepermans, who live near the Collins house, say no one in the area was notified,
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"This could have been avoided very easily by just putting a little alert out. We feel he's still here, everybody go back into lockdown," Robert Tieperman said.
The people that made those decisions not to let us know, are they going to be held accountable for those decisions?" said Melanie Tieperman.
A spokesperson for TDCJ is adamant that the officers shot at the bus tires to disable the vehicle and fired shots at Lopez.
He says the investigation is ongoing.