T.J. Lane Captured: Ohio School Shooter Found Hours After Prison Escape
T.J. Lane has been captured just hours after the convicted school shooter escaped from an Ohio prison along with two other inmates.
On Thursday night, the 19-year-old was able to escape from the Lima prison. One of the inmates was captured quickly, but Lane evaded capture for several hours.
At 1:30 a.m. on Friday, police announced that T.J. Lane had been caught. There was no word on the status of the third escapee, 45-year-old Clifford E. Opperud.
Police said T.J. Lane made it only about 100 yards from the prison’s fence thanks to a perimeter set up by police searching for the escaped inmates.
“Obviously I am not happy that this happened,” warden Kevin Jones said at a press conference. “No warden in my position would be happy that this happened, but the facts are that I am happy that he is back in custody.”
Police did not note how the men were able to escape from prison or the exact circumstances of their capture. The prison where they were being held was a mostly minimum and medium security facility with close to 1,600 inmates. Since it opened in 1994, the prison never had an instance of an inmate escaping.
In the early hours of the search, police combed nearby wooded areas and asked residents not to open their doors to strangers or give rides to hitchhikers.
T.J. Lane was convicted of murdering three classmates at his high school and was sentenced to three life sentences. Lane killed fellow students Daniel Parmertor and Demetrius Hewlin, both 16, and Russell King Jr., 17, using a.22 caliber pistol. He later said he did not know why he killed them.
Classmates were also perplexed at the school shooting, noting that T.J. Lane seemed to show no emotion as he opened fire.
“He didn’t seem any different,” said Chardon High School student Lexi Joy. “He seemed just how he would be on a normal day. He didn’t show any expression on his face. He was just T.J.”
When he was a young boy, T.J. Lane saw his father sent off to prison for a number of charges including felonious assault, kidnapping, and disrupting public service. Lane’s father was also charged with attempted murder on a separate occasion.
