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Grapevine Fugitive Shot And Killed In Texas

The manhunt for escaped convict Alberto Morales ended early Saturday in a hail of gunfire as the fugitive was cornered by police and shot and killed in a small town in Texas.

Authorities said Morales, who had somehow slipped out of his handcuffs since escaping police Monday, lunged at the officers with wooden sticks, according to Texas authorities.

Morales, 41, had been on the run since overpowering a Miami-Dade police detective, stabbing him with his eyeglasses and disappearing from a Walmart in a Dallas suburb. Two Miami-Dade detectives had been escorting Morales, a violent sex offender, to a Las Vegas prison at the time of his escape to finish serving a 30-years-to-life prison term.

“Obviously, we are very relieved,’’ Miami-Dade Deputy Mayor Genaro “Chip” Iglesias said Saturday. “We are relieved that he will not be able to hurt anybody else.’’

The detective, Jaime Pardinas, survived but suffered a collapsed lung. He is recovering at a Dallas-area hospital.

Another Fugitive On The Run In Grapevine Texas

Grapevine police say they have few leads as to the whereabouts of an armed and dangerous Miami felon who seriously injured an officer as he escaped custody on Monday night.

Alberto Morales, 41, escaped from custody after stabbing a Miami-Dade detective with a piece of broken eyeglasses Monday night in the parking lot of a Grapevine Walmart. He was in the midst of being transported from Miami, Fla. to Las Vegas, Nev. to face a sexual assault charge.

Two detectives accompanied Morales on a commercial flight to Nevada on Monday, which started in Miami but had a layover in Houston. Before landing in Texas, Morales slammed his head against a seat and was not allowed back on the flight once they landed in Houston.

The two detectives rented an SUV to finish the trip. In Grapevine on the way to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to meet a third detective, they stopped at a Walmart. While one of his minders was using the restroom, Morales broke a pair of glasses and stabbed Miami-Dade Det. Jaime Pardinas and fled into the city around 10:30 p.m. Monday.

“I’ve been stabbed in the neck,” Pardinas said in a call to 911.

Despite his serious injuries, he was able to describe the suspect and told the dispatcher Morales is schizophrenic. The other detective returned to the vehicle and took over the 911 call, saying Pardinas was stabbed in the neck and back.

The detective said Morales did not take Pardinas’ gun and fled the scene on foot.

h/t WFAA