Duncan Scott/ASSOCIATED PRESS
School shooter T.J. Lane and two other inmates darted for freedom through a soybean field after fashioning a ladder from raw materials.
The trio spent months plotting their escape from Allen Oakwood Correctional Institution by crafting the ladder out of old wood cabinets, but the Sept. 11 attempt eventually proved futile, according to a report released by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation & Correction.
Lane, Clifford Opperud and Lindsey Bruce are shown in surveillance footage during the dusk escape, wearing dark blue prison-issued clothing. The cameras show the inmates fleeing north of the prison in sight of people walking on the correctional facility's campus.
The inmates ran together for a short period of time, but had spread out. The security camera eventually lost track of the third suspect as it zoomed in, but it's not clear which inmates are which in the footage.
The escape had been difficult to capture on security footage because another camera in that area had been broken after being struck by lightning.
The prisoners had crawled through a maintenance area, broke a padlock and scaled an administrative building, the report detailed. Their 15-foot jump off the building alerted correctional guards of their escape.
Lane is serving a life sentence without parole after shooting three students to death at Chardon High School in Feb. 2012.
Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
He pleaded guilty to slaying his classmates and said, 'F--- all of you,' to the victims' families during the hearing.
An overnight search by Ohio State Highway Patrol found Lane at 1:20 a.m. hiding only a short distance from the prison in the nearby woods. The 20-year-old was the second of the three escapees to be found in the failed escape.
The video released by the state shows Bruce being apprehended by a flurry of authorities at 7:47 p.m., only nine minutes after the escape.
Duncan Scott/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Troopers later found Olerud at 4:22 a.m. hiding under a boat at a private home.
In response to the escape, the facility has updated its security by replacing locks, installed barbed wire fencing on the top of its administrative building and blocked off its maintenance area to inmates.
The facility's Warden and Deputy Warden have also been demoted and reassigned to other positions within the agency, the report also states.
nhensley@nydailynews.com
Posted by Unknown on Friday, November 14, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
0 comments "School shooter T.J. Lane escaped Ohio prison after crafting ladder and jumping ..."
Post a Comment