Chardon High School shooter T.J. Lane has escaped from the Allen County Correctional Institution in Lima, Ohio, Allen County Sheriff Sam Crish said.
Another inmate, 45-year-old Clifford E Opperud from Carlisle, Ohio is with him, Lima Police posted on Facebook.
Lima Police said that the two are wearing prison blues and warn residents not to open their door to strangers or pick up hitchhikers.
Lima Police first posted about the escape on Facebook at around 9 p.m. Thursday.
Lima police Sgt. Andy Green told the Associated Press that a search was underway in woods and a residential area near the prison, about 80 miles south of Toledo, he said. The two escapees are considered dangerous.
Authorities said they do not believe the two men were armed. They had no further information on how the inmates escaped from prison. Green said the police were notified about 8 p.m. Thursday evening.
Lane is serving a life sentence for the shooting deaths of Daniel Parmertor, 16, Russell King, Jr., 17 and Demetrius Hewlin, 17, at Chardon High School on Feb. 27, 2012.
ane’s courtroom appearance caused controversy as he wore a white T-shirt with “KILLER” scrawled across it. He also gave the middle finger to the victims’ families.
Lane’s appeal was rejected in court in May.
Reached by the Associated Press Thursday at her home in Chardon, Dina Parmertor, mother of Daniel Parmertor, said of Lane’s escape: “I’m disgusted that it happened. I’m extremely scared and panic stricken. I can’t believe it.”
Opperud is serving a 12-year sentence for aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary and kidnapping stemming from a 2008 offense.
