Report details Lane escape from Lima prison

COLUMBUS — Convicted school shooter Thomas Lane III and two other inmates escaped a Lima prison using a ladder they built out of old wooden cabinets, according to an investigation report released today by state officials.

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction also said it has beefed up security at the Allen Oakwood Correctional Institution and made other changes in response to the September incident.

“Through both an internal and external review, all areas of concern have been, and will be, thoroughly addressed to ensure the safety and security of our staff, communities and inmate population, and to prevent this type of incident from happening in the future,” prison officials concluded in a the five-page investigation report.

Lane was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the shooting deaths of three students at Chardon High School in February 2012.

According to the new report, he and two other inmates spent months making a 13.5-foot ladder out of “discarded wooden cabinets containing flashlights and batteries” stored in a crawl space-like area near the prison recreation yard.