All but one of the 13 juveniles who escaped late Friday from a Nashville detention center already plagued by security problems have been captured, officials said. Twelve of the escapees were found within hours after overpowering guards at the Woodland Hills Youth Development Center, the same facility where 32 teenagers broke free from earlier this month, reported NBC affiliate WSMV.
In this latest incident, three youths managed to overtake a guard and grab his keys and radio around 11 p.m, officials said. They were able to escape through a back door and let more detainees out. The group then ran to a front gate and one of them squeezed through a small opening, used a rock to smash through a window at the guard shack and open the gate for the others, WSMV said.
One staffer was hurt in the jailbreak, although that person’s injuries weren’t immediately disclosed. Authorities are still searching for one of the detainees, identified as 16-year-old Timothy Willis. This latest escape is the third major security breach at the center this month. Two of those 32 teens who escaped Sept. 1 remain at large. They were able to break free after slipping through a weak spot in a perimeter fence. The detention center also was the scene of a disturbance when detainees broke out of the building and attacked some of the guards in the yard.
IN-DEPTH
- Staffing Problems Claimed at Nashville Jail Where Teens Escaped
- Disturbance Hits Nashville Detention Center in Wake of Jailbreak
- Five Juveniles Remain Missing From Nashville Detention Center