New Orleans jailbreak involving 11 inmates likely had help, police say
Nine inmates remained on the loose Friday afternoon after 11 escaped from a New Orleans jail in the morning, likely with some help from inside the facility, according to local authorities who warned that the escapees should be considered “armed and dangerous.”
Deputies discovered the inmates had disappeared at 8:30 a.m. during a routine headcount and immediately launched “emergency protocols,” Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said during a news conference, adding that her deputies were working with local and state law enforcement to try to recapture them.
Investigators have found evidence that the escapees got help from sheriff’s office employees, according to the sheriff’s office, which did not provide further details.
City police found and arrested one inmate, New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said Friday at a news conference. The Louisiana State Police said troopers found an escapee in the French Quarter, and after a brief chase, they caught and arrested him. The French Quarter, a major tourist destination, is about 3 miles by foot from the jail.
Kirkpatrick, who formerly served as chief of the Spokane Police Department from September 2006 to January 2012, said the inmates likely had help escaping. Photos of the purported escape route released by the sheriff’s office show a jail cell with a metal toilet that’s been pushed to the side, exposing a precut hole. Above it, the escapees allegedly wrote various messages such as “To easy lol” and “Catch us when you can.”
More than half the inmates who escaped are charged or have been convicted of either murder or attempted murder, according to sheriff’s office records. Others are accused of armed robbery, aggravated assault and committing a slew of gun crimes.
Hutson said she was launching an investigation to determine what led to “a very serious and unacceptable situation,” a probe that will include jail protocols, staff performance and physical security measures.
“Any lapses or failures that contributed to this incident will be addressed swiftly and with full accountability,” she said.
Kirkpatrick said New Orleans police weren’t notified about the escape until 10:30 a.m., about two hours after the routine headcount turned up short. The department then immediately set out to inform the public so people could protect themselves and help with the manhunt.
“We wanted to immediately notify our public because we knew these escapees would be in our city,” she said before promising a “full court effort” to track down the escapees.
Kirkpatrick declined to criticize the sheriff’s office but said the delay in reporting the escape was “concerning.” When asked if Hutson should have let her know about the escape sooner, the superintendent demurred.
“We’ll deal with that at another time,” she said.
State Attorney General Liz Murrill (R) said she had marshaled state law enforcement to help the police and sheriff’s deputies but she also touched on the reported delay.
“That effort cannot come at the expense of timely notification to the public, which is also critical to keeping communities safe,” she wrote in a social media post in which she said that “someone clearly dropped the ball and there’s no excuse for this.”
“My office will do whatever it takes to determine how this happened and make sure that it won’t happen again,” she said, adding that “once these offenders are back in custody, there must be real accountability.”