LIMA, Ohio – Chardon High School shooter TJ Lane, 19, was captured after he escaped from a western Ohio prison, troopers confirmed to NewsChannel5.
Three inmates escaped during recreation time. Lane scaled a fence to get away.
Here is the timeline of their capture:
The Ohio State Highway Patrol used an airplane and a helicopter with infrared detection to search for Opperud, and the tools aided the search for Lane as well, they said. The patrol’s special response team and k-9 was involved in capture of prisoners.
Opperud pretended to be collecting money for charity, then pulled a gun and entered a couple’s home, WHIO-TV in Dayton reports.
The 2012 Chardon High School shooter escaped from the Allen Oakwood Correctional Facility in Lima, Ohio at around 7:40 p.m. Thursday.
The Allen Oakwood Correctional Facility and Ohio State Highway Patrol held a press conference at 2:30 a.m. Friday.
“Obviously I’m not happy that it’s happened,” said Prison Warden Kevin Jones. “I mean no warden in my position would like this to happen. But the facts are, and I’m happy to announce, that we have Mr. Lane back in our custody.”
The escape happened during recreation time, Jones said. He mentioned that Lane “scaled the fence” but the Ohio State Highway Patrol said that Lane was not able to stray far from the prison because authorities were able to build a strong perimeter quickly.
Lane was taken into custody at around 1:20 a.m. Friday about 100 yards from the main perimeter fence of the prison, authorities said.
Lane has been returned to the prison and an administrative review has started.
Vielhaber added that it appears that Lane was hiding in a farmhouse or barn in a rural area.
The area is extremely dark, he added.
Another inmate, Lindsey Bruce, escaped with Lane and Opperud but was apprehended quickly near a church just north of the prison.
Bruce is serving a life in sentence without the possibility of parole for the kidnapping and aggravated murder of a 5-year-old girl from Madison Township.
Lane is serving a life sentence for the shooting deaths of Daniel Parmertor, 16, Russell King, Jr., 17 and Demetrius Hewlin, 17, at Chardon High School on Feb. 27, 2012.
Nick Walczak, 17, was shot several times but survived the massacre.
“Chardon remains a strong and resilient community,” Chardon Local Schools Superintendent Michael Hanlon said during a 2 a.m. press conference Friday.
newsnet5.com will continue to update this story as details develop.
