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New Orleans jail escapees caught following car chase in Texas; 2 inmates still on the run

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New Orleans jail escapees caught following car chase in Texas; 2 inmates still on the run
News

News

New Orleans jail escapees caught following car chase in Texas; 2 inmates still on the run

2025-05-28 04:25 Last Updated At:04:30

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Only two of the 10 New Orleans jail escapees remain on the run Tuesday after police captured two men Monday following a high-speed pursuit in Texas and another man they found sitting on a bench in Louisiana thanks to an anonymous tip.

Police dashboard and body camera footage, obtained by The Associated Press, appears to show two escapees — Leo Tate, 31, and Jermaine Donald, 42 — fleeing from police, reaching speeds up to 80 mph (129 kph), in a white SUV in Walker County, Texas.

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This image from video taken by Huntsville Police Department on May 26, 2025, shows the arrest of two New Orleans inmates who were on the run since their May 16, 2025, jailbreak. (Huntsville Police Department via AP)

This image from video taken by Huntsville Police Department on May 26, 2025, shows the arrest of two New Orleans inmates who were on the run since their May 16, 2025, jailbreak. (Huntsville Police Department via AP)

This image from video taken by Huntsville Police Department shows the May 26, 2025, arrest of two New Orleans inmates who were on the run since their May 16, 2025, jailbreak. (Huntsville Police Department via AP)

This image from video taken by Huntsville Police Department shows the May 26, 2025, arrest of two New Orleans inmates who were on the run since their May 16, 2025, jailbreak. (Huntsville Police Department via AP)

This image from video taken by Huntsville Police Department on May 26, 2025, shows the arrest of two New Orleans inmates who were on the run since their May 16, 2025, jailbreak. (Huntsville Police Department via AP)

This image from video taken by Huntsville Police Department on May 26, 2025, shows the arrest of two New Orleans inmates who were on the run since their May 16, 2025, jailbreak. (Huntsville Police Department via AP)

A Louisiana state police SWAT member works the scene on Iberville Street as police pursue a fugitive that escaped from a New Orleans jail, Tuesday, May 20, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A Louisiana state police SWAT member works the scene on Iberville Street as police pursue a fugitive that escaped from a New Orleans jail, Tuesday, May 20, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

The vehicle zoomed past police cars, made a U-turn and headed the wrong way on a divided state highway. The men eventually pulled over and surrendered to police, who descended upon the stopped vehicle with their rifles drawn.

“They just ended up giving it up,” said Huntsville Police Lt. Wade Roberts. Additional details about the chase, including how long it lasted, were not immediately available.

Back in Louisiana, an anonymous tip from a concerned citizen led to the capture of another fugitive. Lenton Vanburen Jr., 26, was found Monday evening sitting on a bench near a department store in Baton Rouge – approximately 78 miles (125 kilometers) from the jail he and nine others escaped from earlier this month, police said.

Authorities also said Monday that five people were arrested for assisting Vanburen following the audacious jail escape through a hole behind a toilet. Three of those people share the same last name as Vanburen, including Lenton Vanburen Sr. All five were charged with accessory after the fact — a crime that involves harboring, concealing or aiding a felon who is avoiding arrest, trial, conviction or punishment — which is punishable by up to five years in prison.

Still on the lam are Derrick Groves and Antoine Massey.

Groves, 27, was convicted on two charges of second-degree murder and two charges of attempted second-degree murder last year for his role in the 2018 Mardi Gras Day shootings of two men. He also faces a charge of battery against a correctional facility employee, court records show.

Massey, 33, has a lengthy criminal history. In March, he was booked on charges of motor vehicle theft and domestic abuse battery involving strangulation. He is also wanted by St. Tammany Parish authorities on suspicion of kidnapping and rape, law enforcement officials told The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate.

Authorities have urged the public to call police with any information that may lead to the capture of Groves and Massey, and are offering $20,000 in rewards for tips leading to their arrest.

The bold New Orleans jailbreak occurred nearly two weeks ago, when the inmates yanked open a faulty cell door inside a jail, squeezed through a hole behind a toilet, scaled a barbed-wire fence and fled into the cover of darkness.

Authorities didn't learn of the escape until a morning headcount, hours after the 10 men bolted for freedom. Graffiti was left on the wall at the scene of the crime, a message that read “To Easy LoL,” with an arrow pointing to the gap where the toilet once was.

City and state officials have pointed to multiple security lapses in the jail.

Conditions had been deteriorating in the jail in the months before the escape, with unsupervised inmates smoking marijuana “without fear of consequences” and fashioning weapons out of brooms, mops and buckets, according to a new report released Tuesday by an independent watchdog monitoring a 2013 federal consent decree that was intended to reform the jail.

The monitor urged Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson to reestablish a high-security unit in the jail, noting the unrelenting violence among inmates that’s made the facility “not reasonably safe and secure.” Hutson, a progressive reformer, had abandoned the practice of housing certain inmates in a high-security setting after taking office in 2022.

“Many of the inmate-on-inmate assaults occur because staff allow inmates out of their cells and leave them unsupervised, or inmates are able to manipulate the locks on their cells to open them,” the monitors wrote in the report, which was written before this month’s escape.

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Associated Press writers Jim Mustian in New York and Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.

This image from video taken by Huntsville Police Department on May 26, 2025, shows the arrest of two New Orleans inmates who were on the run since their May 16, 2025, jailbreak. (Huntsville Police Department via AP)

This image from video taken by Huntsville Police Department on May 26, 2025, shows the arrest of two New Orleans inmates who were on the run since their May 16, 2025, jailbreak. (Huntsville Police Department via AP)

This image from video taken by Huntsville Police Department shows the May 26, 2025, arrest of two New Orleans inmates who were on the run since their May 16, 2025, jailbreak. (Huntsville Police Department via AP)

This image from video taken by Huntsville Police Department shows the May 26, 2025, arrest of two New Orleans inmates who were on the run since their May 16, 2025, jailbreak. (Huntsville Police Department via AP)

This image from video taken by Huntsville Police Department on May 26, 2025, shows the arrest of two New Orleans inmates who were on the run since their May 16, 2025, jailbreak. (Huntsville Police Department via AP)

This image from video taken by Huntsville Police Department on May 26, 2025, shows the arrest of two New Orleans inmates who were on the run since their May 16, 2025, jailbreak. (Huntsville Police Department via AP)

A Louisiana state police SWAT member works the scene on Iberville Street as police pursue a fugitive that escaped from a New Orleans jail, Tuesday, May 20, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A Louisiana state police SWAT member works the scene on Iberville Street as police pursue a fugitive that escaped from a New Orleans jail, Tuesday, May 20, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A shooter dressed in black killed at least two people and wounded nine others at Brown University on Saturday during final exams on the Ivy League campus, authorities said, and police were searching for the suspect.

University President Christina Paxson said she was told that 10 people who were shot were students. Another person was injured by fragments from the shooting, but it was not clear if that victim was a student, she said.

Officers scattered across the campus and into an affluent neighborhood filled with historic and stately brick homes, searching academic buildings, backyards and porches late into the night after the shooting erupted in the afternoon.

The suspect was a man in dark clothing who was last seen leaving the engineering building where the attack happened, said Timothy O’Hara, deputy chief of Providence police.

Security footage showed the suspect walking away from the building, but his face was not visible. Some witnesses reported that the man, who could be in his 30s, may have been wearing a camouflage mask, O’Hara said.

Investigators were not yet sure how the shooter got inside the first-floor classroom where he opened fire. Outer doors of the building were unlocked, but rooms being used for final exams required badge access, Providence’s mayor said.

Authorities believe the shooter used a handgun, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The unthinkable has happened,” said Democratic Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee, who vowed that all resources were being deployed to catch the suspect.

Mayor Brett Smiley said a shelter-in-place remained in effect and encouraged people living near the campus to stay inside or not return home until it is lifted. Streets that normally bustle with activity on weekends were eerily quiet.

“The Brown community’s heart is breaking, and Providence’s heart is breaking along with it,” Smiley said.

Emma Ferraro, a chemical engineering student, was in the building’s lobby working on a final project when she heard loud pops coming from the east side. Once she realized they were gunshots, she darted for the door and ran to a nearby building where she sheltered for several hours.

Nine people with gunshot wounds were taken to Rhode Island Hospital, where one was in critical condition, said Kelly Brennan, a spokesperson for the hospital. Six required intensive care but were not getting worse, and two were stable, she said.

University officials initially told students and staff that a suspect was in custody, but later said that was not the case. The mayor said a person preliminarily thought to be involved was detained but was later determined to have no involvement.

Nearly five hours after the shooting, officers in tactical gear led students out of some campus buildings and into a fitness center.

The shooting occurred in the Barus & Holley building, a seven-story complex that houses the School of Engineering and physics department. According to the university’s website, the building includes more than 100 laboratories, dozens of classrooms and offices.

Engineering design exams were underway there when the shooting occurred.

Eva Erickson, a doctoral candidate who was a finalist earlier this year on the CBS reality competition show “Survivor,” said she left her lab in the engineering building 15 minutes before shots rang out.

The engineering and thermal science student shared candid moments on “Survivor” as the show’s first openly autistic contestant. She was locked down in the campus gym following the shooting and shared on social media that the only other member of her lab who was present was safely evacuated.

Biochemistry student Alex Bruce was working on a final research project in his dorm directly across the street from the building when he heard sirens and received a text about an active shooter shortly after 4 p.m.

“I’m just in here shaking,” he said, watching through the window as a half-dozen armed officers in tactical gear surrounded his dorm.

Students in a nearby lab hid under desks and turned off the lights after receiving an alert about the shooting, said Chiangheng Chien, a doctoral student in engineering who was about a block away from the scene.

Mari Camara, a junior from New York City, was coming out of the library and rushed inside a taqueria to seek shelter. She spent more than three hours there, texting friends while police searched the campus.

“Everyone is the same as me, shocked and terrified that something like this happened,” she said.

Brown, the seventh oldest higher education institution in the U.S., is one of the nation’s most prestigious colleges, with roughly 7,300 undergraduates and more than 3,000 graduate students. Tuition, housing and other fees run to nearly $100,000 per year, according to the university.

President Donald Trump told reporters that he had been briefed and “all we can do right now is pray for the victims.”

Rhode Island has some of the strictest gun laws in the U.S. Last spring the Democratic-controlled Legislature passed an assault weapon ban that will prohibit the sale and manufacturing of certain high-powered firearms, but not their possession, starting next July.

Schoenbaum reported from Salt Lake City and Durkin Richer from Washington. Associated Press journalists Mike Balsamo and Seung Min Kim in Washington, Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota, John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, and Martha Bellisle in Seattle contributed.

Law enforcement officials carry rifles on a street in a neighborhood near Brown University, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Providence, R.I. during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Law enforcement officials carry rifles on a street in a neighborhood near Brown University, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Providence, R.I. during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

A police officer hangs yellow crime tape at Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

A police officer hangs yellow crime tape at Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

People board a bus in a neighborhood near Brown University, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Providence, R.I., during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

People board a bus in a neighborhood near Brown University, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Providence, R.I., during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Students are escorted by law enforcement officers to a building at Brown University after a shooting, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Providence, R.I.. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Students are escorted by law enforcement officers to a building at Brown University after a shooting, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Providence, R.I.. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

A law enforcement official walks past articles of clothing on a sidewalk near an entrance to Brown University, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Providence, R.I., during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

A law enforcement official walks past articles of clothing on a sidewalk near an entrance to Brown University, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Providence, R.I., during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Law enforcement officials carry rifles while walking on a street in a neighborhood near Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025 during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Law enforcement officials carry rifles while walking on a street in a neighborhood near Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025 during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Law enforcement officials walk near an entrance to Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Law enforcement officials walk near an entrance to Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Emergency personnel gather on Waterman Street at Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Emergency personnel gather on Waterman Street at Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Emergency personnel gather on Waterman Street at Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Emergency personnel gather on Waterman Street at Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Law enforcement officials carrying weapons gather near Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Law enforcement officials carrying weapons gather near Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Ambulances line Hope Street at Brown University in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during reports of a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Ambulances line Hope Street at Brown University in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during reports of a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Emergency personnel gather at Hope and Waterman Streets at Brown University in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during reports of a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Emergency personnel gather at Hope and Waterman Streets at Brown University in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during reports of a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Ambulances line Hope Street at Brown University in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during reports of a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Ambulances line Hope Street at Brown University in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during reports of a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Emergency personnel gather at Hope and Waterman Streets at Brown University in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during reports of a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Emergency personnel gather at Hope and Waterman Streets at Brown University in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during reports of a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

In this image from video, law enforcement officials gather outside the Brown University campus in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Kimberlee Kruesi)

In this image from video, law enforcement officials gather outside the Brown University campus in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Kimberlee Kruesi)

FILE - The logo for Brown University is displayed at the school's campus in Providence, R.I., on Wednesday, April 25, 2018. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

FILE - The logo for Brown University is displayed at the school's campus in Providence, R.I., on Wednesday, April 25, 2018. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

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