Fugitive laughs as FBI finally arrest him in Mexico after 32 years on the run
A fugitive who spent 32 years on the run laughed when finally caught by the FBI in southern Mexico.
Greg Lawson, 63, smiled and asked arresting officers “How are you doing?” as he was handcuffed in Huatulco.
Lawson fled Louisiana shortly before a jury found him guilty of attempted murder for shooting Seth Garlington in 1991 - sparking a manhunt.
In a video shared by FBI New Orelans on X, formerly known as Twitter, Lawson is seen wearing a short-sleeve, olive-green cargo shirt and camouflage cap.
He chuckles as a law enforcement officer, waiting for him to step off at an airport gate, puts handcuffs on his wrist.
The FBI man replied, “I’m all right,” before the clip ended and Lawson was led to a jail cell about 60 miles north east of Shreveport, Louisiana.
Douglas Williams Jr, the agent in charge of FBI New Orleans, said his capture would not have been possible without help from Mexican authorities.
He added: “We want to thank our partners and the public in this case, who never gave up hope that justice could be served for Mr Lawson’s victim.
“There is no doubt that Mr Lawson might still be in the wind if our partners in Mexico had not been willing to deal with this so swiftly.”
The FBI said they had always suspected Lawson was hiding out in Mexico, but a tip received earlier this month confirmed their theory.
According to a local news channel KTBS Lawson, then 31, tried to run Mr Garlington’s car off the road, leading to a “fistfight” at a petrol station which then erupted into a shootout.
Lawson stood trial and stuck around until jurors started deliberating a verdict.
He fled and ditched his truck about a block away from the courthouse in Claiborne parish, Louisiana.
In 2007, the FBI eventually offered a $10,000 (£8,169) reward for information leading to his arrest.
There were alleged sightings of Lawson throughout the years in the area where he grew up as well as in foreign countries.