13 inmates from a Nashville Tennessee juvenile detention center have managed to flee the facility after overpowering a guard posted there, raising serious questions about the security of the facility. While a one-off case of inmates escaping the facility known as the Woodland Hills Youth Development Center is to be expected, this particular juvenile detention center was in the news for the very same reason — barely a month ago! Yes, you heard it right. This is the second time in the same month that inmates have managed to escape from the facility.
It was on September 2, 2014 — barely 25 days ago — that we had first reported about the escape of over 30 inmates from the Nashville, Tennessee juvenile detention center. All of the individuals, save two, were subsequently re-arrested and the facility was supposedly given a security overhaul. Back then, it was reported by The Inquisitr that the inmates used a weakened fence as their escape route — which was subsequently fixed. This time around, the teenagers housed inside the juvenile detention center used a different modus operandi.
The USA Today reports that the thirteen teenagers managed to overpower a guard late on Friday night, got hold of his keys and managed to escape. The teenagers, after getting hold of the keys, unlocked their dormitory doors and ran out on to an open courtyard. After that, it was as simple as jumping over a perimeter fence. A statement from the Department of Child Services has confirmed that the teenagers had indeed managed to breach the perimeter fence. It was perplexing to note that there seems to have been no second layer of security in place to prevent an escape, even if the inmates manage to overpower a single guard. According to officials from the Nashville police and the Tennessee Highway Patrol, almost all of the escaped teenagers were however re-arrested within hours of the escape. Two inmates, however, are still at large.
“We do not yet know for certain how they got outside the fence, but 13 have escaped the Woodland Hills property,” DCS said in the statement.
A report by the Tennessean adds that this daring escape happened even after there were several security updates to the facility. The facility had been retrofitted with several new security measures that included additional metal plates to doors and construction of a low concrete buffer to surround the perimeter fence.
[Image via the Tennessean ]
