An extensive manhunt for seven inmates who escaped from a New Orleans jail by digging a hole behind a toilet has seen the reward for each fugitive doubled.
As the search entered a third day on Sunday, FBI Special Agent Jonathan Trapp confirmed seven of the 10 men who originally escaped on Friday are still at large.
He added that the FBI is offering $10,000 per inmate instead of the $5,000 previously announced.
The FBI reward is in addition to $5,000 rewards offered by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and $2,000 from CrimeStoppers.
Special Agent Trapp adds he believes members of the public may be aiding the men, and authorities will arrest those found aiding or abetting them.
The men, who range in age from 19 to 42, face a variety of charges including aggravated assault, domestic abuse battery and murder.
A spokesperson for the Louisiana State Police said that the agency was unable to provide details about the scope and target of the investigation for security reasons. The spokesperson added that a multiagency task force was scouring the region for the remaining fugitives.
In a separate statement, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said on Sunday her office’s “main priority remains recovering the prisoners, protecting the public, securing and stabilising the facility staff, and building.”
At least one of the escaped inmates was captured based on a tip from the public, according to a statement from the FBI on the social media platform X.
New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick warned that the fugitives are dangerous in a news conference on Friday night but also urged the public “not to panic.”
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said the men were able to get out of the Orleans Justice Center because of “defective locks.” Hutson said she has continuously raised concerns about the locks to officials and, as recently as this week, advocated for money to fix the aged infrastructure.
“This massive jail break could be the largest jail break in the history of the state, and it never should have happened. The public deserves to know who, what and how this happened,” Gov. Jeff Landry said at the Sunday news conference.
Landry said an audit of the jail by the Department of Corrections will be done by the end of the week. He said everyone in the criminal justice system needs to be held accountable “except for the police, who seem to be doing their job.”
Landry cited delays in bringing charges against people accused of crimes, prosecutions and in sentencing as factors he said contribute to jail populations.
He blamed Friday’s escape on what he called a “progressive justice system,” saying that “there is also no excuse for the way these cases are currently being mismanaged in our criminal justice system.”
Landry declined to comment on whether the escape was an inside job or how it happened.
On Friday, Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said the men were able to get out of the Orleans Justice Center because of “defective locks,” and possibly with help from people inside her department.
“It’s almost impossible, not completely, but almost impossible for anybody to get out of this facility without help,” she said of the jail where 1,400 people are being held.
The escape is drawing intense scrutiny and opprobrium. It took hours for sheriff’s officials to learn of the escape and then more time still to alert New Orleans police, even though some of the missing inmates are accused of violent offenses and they escaped into a neighborhood less than 2 miles (3.2 km) from the city’s famous French Quarter.
Louisiana State Police Superintendent Colonel Robert Hodges said authorities in neighboring states have been notified but that officials do not believe the men have left the state yet. Leads for the men have not panned out, he said.
