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NY Times...2 Inmates Kill Georgia Guards and Escape From Prison Bus, Officials Say

By MATT STEVENS

JUNE 13, 2017

A nationwide manhunt was underway on Tuesday night for two armed prison

inmates who the authorities say escaped from a prison bus early that morning in

Georgia after disarming and fatally shooting two corrections officers on the bus.

The Georgia Department of Corrections asked the public to be vigilant but warned

against approaching the inmates, Donnie Russell Rowe and Ricky Dubose. Officials

said the inmates had carjacked a green 2004 Honda Civic with a Georgia license

plate after their escape.

“Today, two families lost everything in a heinous and senseless act of violence

perpetrated at the hands of cowards,” Gov. Nathan Deal of Georgia said in a

statement. “Our heartbreak is matched only in our resolve to bring their murderers

to justice. No effort will be spared in pursuit of the killers, and no state resources

required in this endeavor will be spared.”

Mr. Rowe and Mr. Dubose were being transported from Hancock State Prison west

on Highway 16 toward Eatonton — about 75 miles east of Atlanta — when they

escaped from custody around 6:45 a.m., Sheriff Howard R. Sills of Putnam County

said at a news conference.

The sheriff said the two prisoners had gotten out of the caged back area “somehow”

and moved into the driver’s compartment, where they “overpowered” the guards

and took their 9-millimeter pistols. They then killed the officers on the bus, though

Sheriff Sills said he had heard conflicting reports on who pulled the trigger.

“They are dangerous beyond description,” he said. “This is a secure bus. How they

got through the locks and things up to that area, I do not know.”

The bus was holding 33 inmates, some of whom assisted investigators, the sheriff said.

The Georgia Department of Corrections commissioner, Gregory C. Dozier, said that

it was standard protocol to have only two officers on the bus, and that the prisoners

would not have known in advance that they were set to be transported Tuesday.

“We have secure vehicles,” Mr. Dozier said. “That should not have happened.”

Law enforcement officials said they believed that the two escapees had burglarized

a home in Morgan County, about 20 miles north of where the shooting occurred,

before stopping at a nearby store.

The home’s owner told the authorities that he had been running errands from

about 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and returned home to a crime scene, said

Christopher A. Bish, chief deputy of the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office.

The burglars appeared to have been searching for clothing and food, Mr. Bish said.

Although he would not provide details, he said that what was left and taken “makes

us believe” the two inmates were responsible for the burglary.

Two witnesses also told the authorities that they had spotted the inmates at a store

less than a mile from the home around 2:30 p.m., Mr. Bish said.

“They went inside, didn’t purchase anything, and left,” he said in a telephone

interview. The men were said to be wearing clothes that were different from their

prison uniforms while inside the store, he added.

The authorities set up a command post nearby, and their search continued late

Tuesday night, Mr. Bish said.

Mr. Rowe, 44, is serving a prison term of life without parole and Mr. Dubose 20

years, both for armed robbery, the Department of Corrections said. Both had been

housed at Baldwin State Prison in Milledgeville, Ga. Mr. Dubose, 24, was a gang

member, Sheriff Sills said.

The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and several local, state and federal agencies are

assisting in the investigation, Mr. Deal said in his statement. About a dozen law

enforcement agencies are involved in the manhunt, he added.

By Tuesday evening, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was offering a reward for information that leads to the arrest of the two men.

The Department of Corrections identified the deceased officers as Christopher

Monica, 42, and Curtis Billue, 58. Mr. Monica began his career with the

Department of Corrections in 2009 and Mr. Billue in 2007, and both were

eventually promoted to sergeant.

“I had their blood on my shoes,” Sheriff Sills said of the victims. Speaking of the

escapees, he added, “I would suggest they surrender before we find them.”