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Anthony Garver, Accused Killer Who Escaped Psychiatric Facility, Captured

An accused killer who escaped from a Washington state psychiatric hospital earlier this week was arrested Friday, according to a tweet from officials.
Image: Anthony Garver
This undated photo provided by the Lakewood Police Department shows Anthony Garver.Lakewood Police Department via AP

An accused killer who escaped from a Washington state psychiatric hospital earlier this week was taken into custody Friday, according to officials.

Image: Anthony Garver
This undated photo provided by the Lakewood Police Department shows Anthony Garver.Lakewood Police Department via AP

Anthony Garver, 28, was one of two patients who escaped from the Western State Hospital in Lakewood, Washington on Wednesday night. The other escapee, Mark Alexander Adams, was taken into custody on Thursday.

"Both escaped inmates from Western State Hospital are in custody," Todd Bartolac, a state police spokesman announced on Twitter just before 9 p.m. local time on Friday.

A K-9 unit helped track Garver, who was found hiding under a pile of debris in a wooded area, Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said at a news conference Friday night. He was taken to a hospital to receive medical attention for dehydration and will be taken to Spokane County Jail, Knezovich said.

Garver had gone to his parents' house to try to get his passport to travel to Morocco, according to Knezovich. He had no weapons on him when he was captured.

Police had referred to Garver as "scary and dangerous." He was committed to the psychiatric hospital two years ago when he was deemed not competent to stand trial after being accused of fatally stabbing a woman two dozen times.

His mother called 911 on Thursday after he showed up at her home. Heavily-armed SWAT officers, K-9 units and helicopters had been searching the wooded area near the home for the escapee.

Meanwhile, another patient who left the same hospital on the same day as Garver and Adams remains missing. This patient, whose name has not been released, was considered on "unauthorized leave" unrelated to the escape, a facility spokeswoman said. The patient left through an unlocked door during an escorted visit outside the premises Wednesday morning, officials said.