Idaho manhunt ends with two mystery murders and white supremacist and accomplice captured: Live

Prison escapes are more common than people think but are rarely violent or to the level of complex escapes that trickle into the news.

Bryce Peterson, a senior research scientist at The Center for Justice Research and Innovation, told CBS News in September that people leave minimum security custody “all the time.”

Most escapes are considered “AWOL” or absent without leave which means an inmate is already outside of the facility and missed a court date, walks off a worksite or doesn’t report back in time can be considered AWOL.

Though it’s hard to pinpoint the exact number of escapes, most prisons do not differentiate AWOLs from maximum security escapes. So the number may be higher than expected but it does not necessarily mean the escape is dramatic.

Boise Police Chief Ron Winegar previously described the escape by Skylar Meade, with help from Nicholas Umphenour, was a “brazen” attack on personnel from the Idaho Department of Corrections.

Officials say that the men left Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center before police backup arrived at the scene on Wednesday night. They were able to leave the premises in a grey four-door sedan, later identified as a Honda Accord.

At a previous press conference Chief Winegar said: “This brazen, violent, and apparently coordinated attack on Idaho Department of Corrections personnel, to facilitate an escape of a dangerous inmate, was carried out right in front of the Emergency Department, where people come for medical help, often in the direst circumstances.

“When BPD officers responded, they believed the shooter was inside the Emergency Department. They immediately entered to address any potential continued threat to Emergency Room staff.

“I am grateful this harrowing incident did not result in loss of life, and we are monitoring the wounded IDOC officers with great hope for a full and speedy recovery of all involved.”

Both Meade and Umphenour were detained on Thursday afternoon around 2pm local time.

Idaho prison escapee Skylar Meade and his accomplice Nicholas Umphenour were both part of the same white prison gang – the Aryan Knights – according to Josh Tewalt, the director of the Idaho Department of Corrections.

The group has white supremacist and white separatist ideologies. It is believed to have over 100 members inside and outside of IDOC. The group has used violence and threats of violence to target non-white inmates and other targeted inmates.

The Anti-Defamation League says the group will identify themselves with tattoos for the number “12” as well as “A” and “K”.

Meade’s tattoos – 1 and 11 – are thought to represent A and K, the first and 11th letters of the alphabet, which supposedly stands for Aryan Knights.

Escaped prisoner Skylar Meade and his accomplice Nicholas Umphenour have been recaptured after the two men coordinated a prison escape in Idaho on Wednesday, officials have said.

The men were later reported to have been associates while spending time behind bars at the Idaho Department of Corrections (IDOC). Both had links to the same white supremacist gang.

Three Idaho Department of Corrections officers were shot as inmate Skylar Meade escaped from a hospital in Boise. Officials re-arrested Meade and his accomplice Nicholas Umphenour on Thursday.

Police say that the incident started at 2.15am on Wednesday when officials transported inmate Meade to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center for medical treatment.

As the officers were preparing to transport the inmate back to a correctional facility, an unknown suspect attacked and fired at the officers, hitting two of them, according to officials.

Additional officers responded to the hospital amid news of a shooting and the facility went into lockdown as police searched for suspects. One officer fired his gun at an armed individual near the entrance of the facility. Officials later determined that the person was a correctional officer.

Director of Idaho Department of Corrections Josh Tewalt told reporters on Thursday that one of the officers had been released from hospital, while two others remained there but were “stable and improving”.

“I think with today’s news, their spirits are lifted,” he said.

Skylar Meade, the inmate who escaped from the Idaho Department of Corrections on Wednesdayand his accomplice, Nicholas Umphenour, are both affiliated with a white supremacist prison gang called the Aryan Knights, law enforcement said on Thursday.

The group has white supremacist and white separatist ideologies. It is believed to have over 100 members inside and outside of IDOC. The group has used violence and threats of violence to target non-white inmates and other targeted inmates.

The Anti-Defamation League says the group will identify themselves with tattoos for the number “12” as well as “A” and “K”.

Police have asked people to be on the lookout for Skylar Meade, who sports a “1” and “11” tattoo as well as an “A” and “K”.

Three correctional officers shot and wounded – one by a responding police officer – in a chaotic firefight as Skyle Meade, a prisoner serving a 20-year sentence, was sprung by armed accomplice.

After both men were captured on Thursday, here’s everything we know about the incident:

Detectives are now investigating two homicides at separate locations, and as Paris and Clearwater counties, in Idaho, that are believed to be tied to the escape of Skylar Meade.

Both homicides involve adult males and detectives are actively investigating according to Lieutenant Colonel Sheldon Kelly, of Boise Police.

No further information on the homicides is available at this time, though the county coroner will provide identity as well as the official cause of death in due course, Mr Kelly told reporters.