LIMA, Ohio — The escaped convicted killer of three Ohio students at a
high school cafeteria is back in custody after a manhunt, police said.
Nineteen-year-old T.J. Lane, who was recaptured early Friday, pleaded
guilty last year to shooting three students in February 2012 at Chardon High
School, east of Cleveland. He said he didn’t know why he did. He was given
three life sentences.
Lane escaped from Allen Correctional Facility Thursday along with two
other inmates and one of the inmates was quickly captured, Lima police Sgt.
Andy Green said. Police combed the woods and a residential area near the
prison, he said.
Authorities said they do not believe the two men are armed, however.
They had no further information on how the inmates escaped from prison. Green
said the police were notified about 8 p.m. Thursday evening.
Authorities identified the other inmate as Clifford E. Opperud, 45, and
said he was serving a sentence for aggravated robbery, burglary, and
kidnapping.
Prosecutors say Lane took a
.22-caliber pistol and a knife to the school and fired 10 shots at a group of
students in the cafeteria. Daniel Parmertor and Demetrius Hewlin, both 16, and
Russell King Jr., 17, were killed.
Lane was at Chardon waiting for a
bus to the alternative school he attended, for students who haven’t done well
in traditional settings.
Before Lane’s case went to adult
court in 2012, a juvenile court judge ruled that Lane was mentally competent to
stand trial despite evidence he suffers from hallucinations, psychosis and
fantasies. At his sentencing, Lane was defiant, smiling and smirking
throughout, including while four relatives of the victims spoke.
No comments:
Post a Comment