11 “dangerous” men have escaped from a New Orleans prison. On Friday, the Orleans Justice Center was placed on full lockdown after nearly a dozen inmates were unaccounted for during a routine headcount at 8:30 am, Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said, per ABC News.
New Orleans prison break: Orleans Justice Center on lockdown after 11 inmates escape, 1 recaptured
Hutson asked the public to remain alert, noting that the runaways should be considered “armed and dangerous.” The sheriff’s office said that while one of the men had been apprehended, they are working on a “full-scale search operation” for the rest of them, alongside local, state, and federal law enforcement.
The sheriff called the escape “very serious and unacceptable,” adding, “We are launching a full investigation to determine how this escape occurred, including reviewing facility.” Hutson also vowed that those who helped the inmates escape would also be apprehended.
Names of inmates who escaped from Orleans Justice Center
A source close to the sheriff’s department told Fox8 that those who escaped had been charged with violent crimes, including domestic abuse, robbery, and second-degree murder. Their names, according to court documents obtained by Fox8 and ABC News, are as follows:
- Antoine Massey
- Lenton Vanburen
- Leo Tate
- Kendell Myles
- Derrick Groves
- Jermaine Donald
- Corey Boyd
- Gary Price
Among the above-mentioned, Myles was recaptured in the French Quarter, less than three miles from the prison. 10 inmates remain at large, including Price, who was charged with attempted first-degree murder.
New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick told reporters that a “group of people” who were believed to be the inmates’ victims were immediately removed from their homes and “taken to safety.”
Kirkpatrick acknowledged that the inmates were “more than likely” to have had help as they changed out of their jail clothes. “We don’t want panic, but we do want people to be mindful,” she added, per ABC News.
