UPDATE | Union says Ohio prison officials learned of escape plans day earlier

LIMA, Ohio (AP) — Prison officials were warned about an escape the day before three inmates, including a school shooter who killed three students, scrambled over a fence for minutes or hours of freedom before being recaptured, the union representing Ohio guards said today.

One inmate was put in segregation when an escape plan was discovered on Wednesday, the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association said in a statement. That inmate was housed in the same unit as the three who escaped the following evening, and prison officials didn't take additional steps to secure the unit, the union said.

A message was left with the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

The three escaped prisoners, including convicted Chardon High School shooter T.J. Lane, were recaptured by early this morning.

Lane, 19, was caught only about 100 yards from the prison by two state troopers at 1:20 a.m. A second prisoner had been caught almost immediately, and troopers apprehended the third three hours after finding Lane.

Lane's brief taste of freedom frightened residents in Chardon, the community nearly 200 miles to the east where Lane fatally shot three students and wounded two others and then further angered people with defiant behavior in court.