30 teens escape from Nashville detention center

Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

Thirty teens “overwhelmed” their minders at a juvenile-detention center by simultaneously breaking out of four dormitories and then crawling under a weak spot in a chain-link fence. By Tuesday evening, seven still were on the run.

Police caught up with some walking along roads or coming out of the woods. Some turned themselves in, including one at the guard shack Tuesday evening. And some were swiftly returned to the detention center by their own families for their own good.

The teens — age 14 to 19 — left their rooms at the Woodland Hills Youth Development Center about 11 p.m. Monday night and gathered in common areas. With just 16 unarmed adults to keep watch over 78 youths in 12 dormitories, the staff was “overwhelmed,” said Tennessee Department of Children’s Services spokesman Rob Johnson.

“Staffing was lighter during the overnight hours, so presumably they had planned for that,” he said.