Lake Providence, Louisiana — Louisiana authorities said on Friday that eight inmates had escaped from a rural prison, some facing murder charges, sparking another manhunt in a state where… Daring prison escape During the past year, security breakdowns were revealed.
Officials did not say how the escape occurred in East Carroll Parish, an area of about 7,000 residents along the state’s borders with Arkansas and Mississippi. Louisiana State Police said three inmates had been arrested as of Friday afternoon and that they are all considered violent felons.
“Do not approach under any circumstances,” state police said in a statement posted on social media.
Inmates were reported missing from the Riverbend Detention Center in Lake Providence around 1:20 a.m. Friday, according to state police.
Last year in Louisiana 10 inmates escaped from a New Orleans prison After crawling through a hole behind the toilet. They were not all arrested until five months later after a search that spanned multiple states.
In December, Three prisoners escaped From a different prison in Louisiana after removing concrete blocks from a deteriorating wall.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Morell posted on X that she “offered full assistance from my office” and has been in contact with the local sheriff and the president of the state Sheriff’s Association.
The fugitives are being held on charges including murder, aggravated assault with a firearm and aggravated flight from an officer, court records said.
East Carroll Parish is located in a part of Louisiana that was hit hard by power outages following the disaster Deadly winter storm Which moved across the United States this week. Nearly 1,000 customers in East Carroll Parish were still without power as of Friday afternoon, according to Poweroutage.us.
They had assistance from other law enforcement agencies and were working “around the clock,” Sheriff Wydit Williams said in a statement posted on Facebook late Friday afternoon. He said the state police were taking the lead in searching for the remaining fugitives and encouraged residents to “remain alert and report any suspicious activity immediately.”
State police and Williams did not immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press seeking comment.