Five teenagers serving sentences for felonies assaulted workers at a juvenile rehabilitation facility in Washington State on Wednesday before fleeing in a vehicle, authorities said.
In a statement published on Twitter on Wednesday, the King County Sheriff's Office said the teens escaped the Echo Glen Children’s Center near Snoqualmie at around 7:45 a.m. that morning.
The teens are all between the ages of 14 to 17, with a 15-year-old boy convicted of murder last year among them.
They fled the facility in a blue 2018 Ford Fusion, the sheriff's office said, sharing a photo of a similar vehicle.
Sheriff’s spokesperson Sgt. Tim Meyer told The Seattle Times that the five teens are all boys, with two having escaped previously.
Meyer did not disclose how the teens managed to escape, but said that several staff members were assaulted in the process.
One of the teens was convicted of murder, while the others were convicted of crimes including possession of stolen property and robbery, he said.
Later on Wednesday, the King County Sheriff's Office shared the identity of the teen convicted of murder with a release asking for the public's help locating the 15-year-old.
The teenager had been in Echo Glen's care following a 2021 conviction for murder and unlawful possession of a firearm stemming from a 2020 homicide in southwest King County, the sheriff's office said.
It said it was releasing his details out of "concern for the safety and wellbeing of the public."
Warrants are being issued for the five teens' arrests, according to the Associated Press.
The Echo Glen Children’s Center is a medium and maximum security facility that is run by the state Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration. The center did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
