By Brad Brooks
(Reuters) – Ten inmates escaped from a jail in New Orleans, authorities said on Friday, including some charged with murder, but the city’s police department was not notified until two hours after the discovery that the prisoners were missing.
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said during a news conference that officers discovered the detainees had escaped during an 8:30 a.m. head count. It’s believed they fled from the Orleans Justice Center several hours earlier.
“We are urging the public to remain alert,” Hutson said, who added that city, county, state and federal agencies were assisting in the manhunt.
The sheriff, who did not provide details on how the inmates escaped, said an investigation into jail failures was beginning immediately. The sheriff’s office oversees the jail.
Louisiana State Police said in a statement that one escapee had been captured in the New Orleans’ famed French Quarter. The inmate was found hiding underneath a car in a hotel garage.
Hutson originally said that 11 inmates in total had escaped – but one person who was thought to have fled was later found in the jail.
New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said at a news conference that her department was notified about the jail break about two hours after the inmates were discovered missing, and that some were facing murder charges.
Kirkpatrick said it was concerning that her department was not notified about the prison break sooner. She said her department’s focus now was on locating all inmates who fled.
Kirkpatrick said police had notified some of the victims of the escapees that they were on the run, and in one instance went to a home and removed a family thought to be in danger.
She did not provide details, but asked that any other victims who feel they are in danger, and any people who were witnesses in any of the trials of the escapees, contact police so that they can be protected.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill told Fox News that the escapees “are dangerous, and we want to protect people that they might be a danger to now.”
Murrill said many questions remained unanswered about how the inmates escaped and in how authorities responded.
“We know that they had a lot of lead time before wider law enforcement was notified that they were missing,” Murrill said.
(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Colorado; Additional reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington; Editing by Alistair Bell)
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