Police report sighting of Texas prison escapees

David Tull, Irving Police Department spokesman, shows new sketches of the seven convicts on Friday

In this story: Police: Gang may not leave Texas Suspects spotted at bank Manhunt spreads across Southwest Federal charges RELATED STORIES, SITES

SAN MARCOS, Texas (CNN) -- Police in San Marcos, Texas, are preparing for the worst Friday after a bank clerk said he spotted two of seven escaped convicts wanted in the killing of a police officer.

Authorities expect a "violent confrontation" sometime during the manhunt and plan to send "multiple officers" to the scenes of any reported sightings, San Marcos Police Cmdr. Bill Glasgow told CNN.

RESOURCE Profiles of the escapees   INTERACTIVE Interactive map of the Texas manhunt   AUDIO Larry Todd, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, spoke to CNN by telephone on Friday 211K/19 sec. AIFF or WAV sound 182K/16 sec. AIFF or WAV sound 100K/9 sec. AIFF or WAV sound   TRANSCRIPT Early Edition: San Marcos Police Commander Discusses Manhunt for Texas Prison Escapees     ALSO A look at the fugitives in Texas     MESSAGE BOARD Violence in America

"We're very concerned about the safety of our officers," Glasgow said. The wanted men were spotted Thursday at a Bank of America branch in San Marcos, a town in South Texas, northeast of San Antonio off Interstate 35.

Larry Todd of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice cautioned that despite the San Marcos bank clerk's identification of the two suspects, doubt remains about whether the men were the actual fugitives because of simultaneous sightings reported in Colorado and Oklahoma.

"We have no concrete evidence that says that the escapees were (in San Marcos.) We don't know where they are. That's the candid answer and it is our fervent desire that we will get them back without bloodshed."

Asked if the escapees -- who are accused of killing an Irving, Texas, police officer -- were headed for Mexico, Glasgow said it appears the seven aren't intent on leaving Texas but no one could be certain.

"I don't have any idea what these guys are doing. None of us really do. It's pretty clear it doesn't look like they are leaving the state," said Glasgow, noting that they escaped in South Texas, went north to the Dallas area and now appeared to be back in the south. "I don't have any explanation why they are going the way they are."

All seven convicts -- two killers, two armed robbers, a child abuser, a serial rapist and a burglar -- are being sought on capital murder charges for the police officer's slaying.

Glasgow said he doubted the escapees still resemble their mug shots, which were distributed widely after their escape on December 13 from the John B. Connally Unit of the Texas Department of Corrections in Kenedy, Texas. Most likely, Glasgow said, they now have longer hair, beards or mustaches.

At an Irving, Texas, news conference Friday morning, Irving police spokesman David Tull released a set of police drawings aimed at illustrating any changes in the convicts' weight or hairstyle since their escape.

In the three weeks since they broke out of prison with a cache of weapons and left a note warning, "You haven't heard the last of us yet," the convicts are suspected of pulling off at least two robberies and killing a police officer.

Tull said there was a possibility that two of the escapees had been injured during the robbery of a sporting goods store on December 24.

At that robbery, Irving Police Officer Aubrey Hawkins was shot to death. Tull said that blood samples found near the scene of the crime indicated that two people, in addition to Hawkins, had suffered gunshot injuries during the robbery. Officials said the gang has amassed an arsenal of more than 40 weapons stolen during the prison break and at the robbery.

An autopsy report released Wednesday showed Hawkins suffered 11 gunshot wounds and was run over by a vehicle after he responded to the sporting goods store robbery.

San Marcos Police Chief Steve Griffith said Thursday that George Rivas and Michael Rodriguez were the two escapees identified at the bank.

Police were called to the bank Thursday afternoon after a clerk reported a man who wanted to open a new account was acting odd, the chief said. The clerk told officers the man made bank employees nervous, so the clerk called authorities.

Griffith said he showed witnesses some additional photographs of the escapees and was "able to confirm that two of the individuals ... two of the escapees were at (the) bank."

The pictures were shown to a bank teller and another witness, who positively identified them as escaped prisoners.

A witness outside the bank saw seven or eight people standing around three cars in the parking lot and said the man inside the bank was with these people. They all got into the three cars and headed out of the downtown area toward Interstate 35, the statement said.

That highway, when taken south, leads to San Antonio, Texas, and goes to Dallas-Fort Worth if taken north.

Prison officials said the search has spread across the Southwest, but is concentrated in the Dallas area. Larry Todd, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said all seven are still believed to be together.

Todd said they apparently have not tried to contact any close friends or relatives, but he added: "Someone is obviously helping them. They have the money and assistance to stay hidden."

That the seven appeared to be running as a gang and instead of splitting up has led to suspicions they may be planning a showdown. "It leads everyone to think these guys have a plan," said FBI spokeswoman Lori Bailey.

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in San Antonio charged the men with weapons violations Wednesday, signaling a broadening federal role in the three-week-old manhunt, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

FBI agents in the Dallas area planned to file separate federal charges of unlawful flight from federal prosecution. The unlawful-flight charges would "make it a nationwide manhunt rather than a state and local manhunt," Bailey said.

Authorities issued a special phone number for tips regarding the escapees: 1-800-252-TIPS (8477). A tipster call to police in Canon City, Colorado, on Thursday has not been confirmed by police. The caller said the escapees were in a red Ford panel van.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Texas police on high alert as search for escaped convicts continues
January 4, 2001
Seven escaped convicts still believed to be in Dallas, Texas, area
January 2, 2001
Texas fugitives charged with Radio Shack robbery
December 29, 2000
Police search for escaped convicts linked to officer's death
December 26, 2000

Irving Police Department
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
SanAntonio.com

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.