: Might mean absolutely nothing - but there have been multiple
: references to "seven" in recent news stories.

: I'll post the 2 most recent ones, and repost 2 earlier ones,
: as replies to this post, forming a "thread".

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Wednesday December 27 3:04 AM ET
Seven Jail Escapees Sought in Texas Police Shooting

IRVING, Texas (Reuters) - A massive manhunt was under way in Texas for seven escaped convicts accused of gunning down an Irving police officer during a Christmas Eve robbery.

Police said the suspects, who include two killers and are considered extremely dangerous, appeared to be fulfilling a promise made when they broke out of a south Texas jail two weeks ago and 270 miles away in a carefully planned escape.

``You haven't heard the last of us yet,'' one of the escapees warned in a message he left behind.

The men, wielding guns and wearing dark clothes, robbed an Oshman's Sporting Goods store in the Dallas suburb of Irving Sunday evening just as the 23 employees were getting ready to go home for the holiday.

The workers, who were bound and held at gunpoint, said the men took guns and perhaps cash from the store, then fled out the back door at the same time Irving police officer Aubry Hawkins, 29, arrived to answer a call for help.

They shot and killed Hawkins, then fled in a car that belonged to the store manager. The car was found nearby, but the escapees were not. They were identified by the employees from police photos.

Police, who have been searching for the men since the jailbreak, admitted they had no idea how the men got to Irving or where they were now.

``We're doing everything we can to locate these seven suspects. We do not know where they are at this point,'' Irving police chief Lowell Cannaday told reporters Tuesday.

``They are better armed than ever, desperate and capable of anything. ... They could be anywhere in the Southwest,'' Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Larry Todd said.

Police agencies across the region, including the fabled Texas Rangers, were looking for the men, who authorities believe have had the help of outsiders from the beginning.

On Tuesday, police surrounded a hotel in nearby Arlington after receiving a tip the men were there, but it turned out to be a false alarm. The men escaped from the John B. Connally maximum security prison unit near Kenedy, Texas, about 50 miles southeast of San Antonio on Dec. 13.

They overpowered guards and a civilian maintenance crew they worked with, stole their clothes and 16 guns stored in a guard tower, then took off in a prison pickup truck.

The truck was found at a Wal-Mart in Kenedy, but the escapees disappeared without a trace, leading to the belief that someone had been waiting to pick them up.

Prison officials believe the seven men were able to pull the escape off without a hitch because of clever planning. Irving police saw the same degree of preparation in the Oshman's robbery.

``This was a well-planned and well-executed robbery,'' Cannaday said.

Included in the seven escapees are convicted murderers Joseph Garcia and Michael Anthoney Rodriguez, serving sentences of 50 years and life in prison, respectively.

The other five men had sentences ranging from 30 years to life years for crimes such as rape, aggravated robbery, and injury to a child.

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