PEARL, Miss. (AP) — An inmate was captured within hours of breaking out of a central Mississippi prison Thursday.
The state Department of Corrections said a siren failed to sound to alert local residents of the escape.
“We are very sorry because the local community is a valuable resource for us,” Corrections Commissioner Burl Cain said in a statement. “We are immediately correcting the situation with the siren and actively investigating the events surrounding the escape.”
Shunekndrick Huffman, 20, escaped from Central Mississippi Correctional Facility. He was captured in a large trash bin at the Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield, about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the prison.
Huffman was sentenced on Oct. 14, 2019, to seven years followed by three years’ probation for aggravated assault in Leake County. The department said that before the escape, Huffman was on track for release in December.
State police and the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department worked with Department of Corrections officers to find Huffman.
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