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 T.J. Lane, 19, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole
last year for the attack at Chardon High School, escaped with
inmates Clifford Opperud and Lindsey Bruce from the Allen Oakwood
Correctional Institution in Lima, northwestern Ohio, warden Kevin
Jones told reporters at a news conference.
Lane's former attorney, Ian Friedman, warned that Lane could be
dangerous and was one of the few maximum security prisoners at the
facility. He had recently lost an appeal.
Lane was arrested without incident and Bruce was also recaptured
near the prison on Thursday, Jones said.
The 45-year-old Opperud remains at large, he said.
"Obviously, I'm not happy that this happened," Jones said at the
news conference outside the facility.
The Lima Police Department said in Facebook messages only that Lane
and Opperud had escaped.
Prison officials and police, backed by a helicopter using infrared
detection equipment, launched an "extensive manhunt" in the area and
warned residents not to let strangers into their homes or to pick up
hitchhikers.
Lane was originally arrested shortly after the February 2012 school
attack and confessed to firing 10 rounds from a .22-caliber pistol
at students in the school cafeteria that killed Demetrius Hewlin,
16, Russell King Jr., 17, and Daniel Parmertor, 16.
He also wounded Nick Walczak, who was left paralyzed, as well as
Nate Mueller and Joy Rickers.
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Lane wore a T-shirt with "killer" scrawled on it and made a profane
statement in court when he was sentenced to three life terms for the
aggravated murders and a total of 37 years for wounding the other
students last year.
The rampage was one of several mass shootings in the United States
that year, including the massacre of 20 children at an elementary
school in Newtown, Connecticut, in December.
Chardon, a small town near Cleveland, is about 200 miles (320 km)
east of the prison.
Chardon Local School District Superintendent Michael Hanlon said in
a statement that district schools would be closed on Friday, but
would still provide counseling services.
(Additional reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Writing by
Eric M. Johnson; Editing by Louise Ireland)
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