Ohio town in shock after school shooter TJ Lane briefly escapes prison

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/12/ohio-town-tj-lane-school-shooter-escape-prison

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The prison from which TJ Lane fled on Thursday evening was almost 200 miles to the west from the community that he shattered by senselessly shooting dead three school students before taunting their families in court.

Yet after their thoughts were abruptly returned to that darkest day, some people in Chardon, Ohio, spent the five and a half hours before Lane was recaptured none the less fearful of what the 19-year-old killer might do as a free man.

After Lane’s escape from Allen Oakwood prison in Lima, police arrived to guard the homes of the families of Demetrius Hewlin, 16, Russell King, 17, and Daniel Parmertor, 16, who he gunned down inside their high school cafeteria in February 2012.

“I’m extremely scared and panic stricken,” Dina Parmertor, Daniel’s mother, told the Associated Press. “I can’t believe it.” The shock resonated even after Lane had been caught by police. Friday’s classes were cancelled and counselling sessions were offered.

“The last several hours have certainly been very difficult,” Michael Hanlon, Chardon’s superintendent, said at an early-morning press conference. “While the individual is now back in custody, there has certainly been an undeniable, profound and deep impact on our entire community.”

Scott Niehus, the chief of Chardon police department, said that he had quickly coordinated with the officers who were searching for Lane and two fellow escapees “to ensure that our community remained safe throughout” his time on the run.

“The Chardon police department will continue to demonstrate a visible presence in our schools and support the students, teachers and staff as they return to school on Monday,” said Niehus.

Ultimately Lane was found only about 100 yards from where he had scaled a perimeter fence during recreational time. Kevin Jones, the prison warden, told reporters that he was discovered outside a church off Bluelick Road, just across the street to the north of the jail.

Lane was reported to be holding a pitchfork when he was apprehended by two state troopers from a special response team. However “he was taken into custody without incident,” Jones said at a press conference early on Friday. “He never made any comment at all.”

By the time Lima police issued an emergency alert about “escaped prisoners” on Twitter just before 9pm, it had been more than an hour since the jailbreak by Lane, Lindsey Bruce and Clifford Opperud was first reported internally, according to officials.

Bruce, who is serving a life sentence for kidnapping and murdering a five-year-old girl, was caught within minutes of the escape. But Lane and Opperud made it further. “Please remain in your homes and do not pick up hitchhikers,” police told residents.

Police officers and state troopers from stations across the region were quickly called upon to surround the area, according to Captain Gary Allen. “We had enough troopers in order to make a nice perimeter,” he said.

Aided by heat-seeking equipment, a police plane and a police helicopter swooped over the surrounding streets and woodland for signs of life. “If he was there, we were going to find him,” Allen said later. Tip-offs from residents were relayed from phone dispatchers, he said.

Families preparing to turn in for the night were instead visited by officers and warned that dangerous men were on the loose nearby. Sheds and garages were searched in case Lane had quickly settled inside a hiding place. “We’ll get them,” police said on Twitter. “Be safe.”

It was not until about 1.20am that Lane was apprehended. “We got him,” the police announced; “One more to go”. Opperud, who is serving 12 years for burglary, robbery and kidnapping, was not found for another three hours.

Jones, the warden, quickly faced questions about why a triple-murderer was being held at Allen Oakwood, which is a minimum- and medium-security prison. “I think that that’s something that we’ll have to sit down and take a look at,” he said.

Lane is serving three consecutive life sentences, after pleading guilty last year to charges of aggravated murder. He said that he did not know why he had killed the three teenagers and wounded two others, one of whom is now paralysed.

At a sentencing hearing in March last year, Lane removed his dress shirt to display a white t-shirt bearing the handwritten slogan “KILLER”. He smirked throughout the proceedings and flicked a middle finger at family members of his victims.

Lane had been disciplined seven times in the past 18 months, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, which reported that his offences included urinating against a prison wall and twice giving himself a tattoo.

Asked by a reporter “how the hell” such a high-profile prisoner could have escaped, Jones said that an investigation had been opened. “Obviously I’m not happy that it’s happened,” he said. “No warden in my position would like something like this to happen.”

Over in Chardon, Andy Fetchik, the high school’s principal, used the press conference to try to reassure students and parents that things would return to normal. “As we work through this together, I know things will get better, as they have before,” he said.