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Escaped Ohio school shooter captured hiding near a church, police say
LIMA, Ohio – A teenager convicted of killing three students at an Ohio high school scrambled
over a fence to escape a state prison with two other prisoners and was captured nearly
six hours later hiding near a church, authorities said.
T.J. Lane, 19, was caught only about 100 yards from the prison by two state troopers at 1:20
a.m. Friday. A second prisoner had been caught almost immediately after the Thursday night
escape, and troopers apprehended the third three hours after finding Lane.
Lane's brief taste of freedom frightened residents in Chardon, the community nearly 200 miles
to the east where Lane fatally shot three students and wounded two others and then further
angered people with defiant behavior in court. At his sentencing hearing last year, Lane
unbuttoned a dress shirt to reveal a T-shirt scrawled with the word "killer," similar to
a shirt he wore during the shootings on Feb. 27, 2012. He cursed and made an obscene gesture
as the judge gave him three consecutive life sentences.
Police officers were sent late Thursday to guard the homes of the families of Lane's
victims. School officials canceled classes Friday and made counseling available for students
and the larger community.