Ohio school shooter T.J. Lane recaptured 100 yards from prison

Ohio high school shooter T.J. Lane and a fellow inmate were returned to custody at an Ohio state prison early Friday morning, after their escape prompted an hours-long search through the night to recapture them.

Lane, 19, who was convicted in 2012 for a Cleveland-area school shooting that killed three students and wounded three others, was found only 100 yards from the prison. He is serving a sentence of three life prison terms.

During his sentencing, Lane wore a white shirt with the word “killer” scrawled across it. He also cursed at and made an obscene gesture toward the victims’ families.

Around 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Lane and two other inmates were able to scale a perimeter fence at Allen Oakwood Correctional Facility, according to a statement from Ohio prison officials.

One inmate was caught immediately, but Lane and another convict, 45-year-old Clifford Earl Opperud, were on the loose for several hours as state highway patrol officers, Lima police and correctional officers searched the area.

Law enforcement officials fanned out, locked down a perimeter and used helicopters with infrared detectors to search for the escapees.

State highway patrol officers recaptured Lane about 1:20 a.m. Friday, just 100 yards from the prison walls. He was taken into custody and returned to the prison without incident, said Warden Kevin Jones.

Opperud, who is in prison for robbery, burglary and kidnapping, was found three hours later, hiding under a boat at a private home nearby.

Ohio State Highway Patrol Capt. Gary Allen told reporters they were unable to get much farther because officers quickly established a perimeter around the prison.

School authorities and local police in Chardon, home to Chardon High School where the shooting occurred, were on high alert through the night as news of Lane’s escape rattled nerves. Chardon is about 200 miles east of Lima.

Officials announced that classes would be canceled at all Chardon schools Friday. School activities, including a Friday night football game, will go on as scheduled, one official at Chardon High School told The Times.

Local police said they would be increasing their visibility in the community as students prepare to return to school Monday.

Chardon Schools Superintendent Michael Hanlon said Lane’s escape had an “undeniable profound and deep impact” on residents, and offered counseling services to students and community members Friday.

All three inmates have been transferred to the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown, a maximum security prison, officials said, and administrative and criminal investigations into the incident have begun.

On Friday, a state employees union representing the prison guards claimed that prison officials had been warned the day before that an escape plan was afoot. According to a statement from the Ohio Civil Service Employees Assn., the prison placed one inmate, who did not escape, in segregation but took no additional security measures.

The union also contended that Lane and Opperud were classified as high-security inmates, but were being housed with lower-security convicts.

Prison officials acknowledged that Lane had been assigned “the highest level security grade typically given” to first-time offenders, and that he had also been under protective custody classification, the same rating given to kidnapper Ariel Castro, who was later found dead in his cell of an apparent suicide.

Scott Flowers, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, told The Times in an email that the isolated inmate “had nothing to do” with the escape but did not elaborate.

“Obviously I’m not happy that it’s happened. No warden in my position would like something like this to happen,” Jones said.

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