Four inmates, including a man accused of murder, escaped from a Georgia jail early Monday, authorities said.
The inmates made their way out of the Bibb County Detention Center through a damaged window and a cut fence, the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. They escaped about 3 a.m. in a blue Dodge Challenger that had pulled up to the location, the sheriff’s office said.
The escaped inmates are Joey Fournier, 52, who was jailed in a murder; Marc Kerry Anderson, 24, accused of aggravated assault; Johnifer Dernard Barnwell, 37, detained by U.S. marshals; and Chavis Demaryo Stokes, 29, accused of possession of a firearm and drug trafficking, the sheriff’s office said.
In addition to the sheriff’s office, the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force, the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service are looking for them.
The Bibb County School District said it had placed its 38 schools on "soft lockdown," meaning classroom instruction continued but outdoor activities were limited during the day.
Bibb County Sheriff David Davis said at a news conference that the inmates could be anywhere and that he's not sure whether they're still together or have split up.
"Somebody that sees this tonight knows where these four people are, and somebody is probably laughing at the TV set saying, 'They'll never get us,'" Davis said. "We will catch them. They will come back to jail. It's just a matter of time."
Bibb County is about 85 miles south of Atlanta. Macon is the county seat.
Last month, convicted murderer Danelo Cavalcante drew national headlines when he escaped from a Pennsylvania prison and spent nearly two weeks on the lam.
