Police in Georgia were searching on Tuesday for two armed inmates who escaped from prison transportation after overpowering their guards and shooting them dead, authorities said.
The corrections officers were transporting prisoners at 5:45 a.m. EDT (945 GMT) in Putnam County, about 70 miles (110 km) southeast of Atlanta, when inmates Donnie Rowe, 43, and Ricky Dubose, 24, disarmed them, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
One of the inmates shot and killed both officers, police said, adding that Rowe and Dubose are believed to be armed with the officers’ .40 caliber Glock pistols.
After killing the guards, the inmates approached a dark green Honda Civic that was stopped nearby and demanded that the driver give them the car, Putnam County Sheriff spokeswoman Teresa Slade said.
“This guy happened to be driving up at the wrong time,” Slade said of the motorist, adding that he was not injured during the carjacking.
The Georgia Department of Corrections said both slain officers worked at Baldwin State Prison in Hardwick, Georgia. It named them as Curtis Billue, who joined the department in 2007, and Christopher Monica, who was hired in 2009.
Georgia Governor Nathan Deal said the officers’ courage would not be forgotten and vowed to bring their murderers to justice.
“No effort will be spared in pursuit of the killers, and no state resources required in this endeavor will be spared,” Deal said in a statement.
The corrections department said 33 inmates were on the bus when the pair escaped.
Rowe had been in Baldwin State Prison since June 2002 serving a life sentence without parole for armed robbery and other offenses.
Dubose had been in prison since July 2015 for crimes including armed robbery and was not due for release until 2034, according to the corrections department.
Separately, four Oklahoma inmates, including a suspected murderer, escaped from the state’s Lincoln County Jail on Monday, the second recent escape for two of the four from the prison about 45 miles (72 km) northeast of Oklahoma City.
Also on Monday, a decorated, 15-year veteran Arkansas police officer was shot during a traffic stop in a town about 90 miles (140 km) northeast of Little Rock. He later died in a hospital.
Arkansas state police said on Tuesday a suspect was in custody. Police did not release the suspect’s name, but said more details would be released shortly.
(Reporting by Gina Cherelus in New York, additional reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Bernadette Baum)
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-georgia-inmates-idUSKBN1941OT
That is one seriously ballsy prison escape. To start out unarmed, then disarm and blow away your captors, is an achievement that can best be described as BADASS. (No doubt government officials and their thugs will deem it “cowardly,” as per the usual script.)
That’s also great news coming out of Arkansas.
“Freedom grows where pigs get planted.”
“One of the inmates shot and killed both officers,…”
OUTSTANDING!!! BEST NEWS OF THE DAY!!!!!
Prison guards are NO different than their scumbag counterparts on the streets.
Hope these two take out a slew more of them!
Life sentence for armed robbery n other offenses n the first offense listed is armed robbery. Ya I’d say he had nothing to lose. Most of their offenses fit that bill except maybe the murderer but than again we don’t know the back story. If there even is one since “33” were on the bus.