CNN
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All nine teenagers who escaped from a juvenile detention center in Pennsylvania following a riot at the facility Sunday evening have been captured, a state police official said Monday morning.
Four of the nine teen were captured about 2.5 miles away from Abraxas Academy in Morgantown, David Beohm, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania State Police troop in Reading, said earlier Monday.
The juvenile facility is about 15 miles west of South Coventry Township, where escaped murder convict Danilo Cavalcante was captured on Wednesday after nearly two weeks on the run.
“We’re asking the people in this area again, kind of like we did two weeks ago, lock everything up, take your keys out of your car, be vigilant,” Beohm said as the search carried on overnight.
State and local law enforcement responded to Abraxas Academy and took “back control of the juvenile detention center,” the Caernarvon Township Police Department said in a statement.
All of the teens who escaped are between the ages of 15 to 17, officials said.
Police had said they would approach the teens as if they were armed and advised the public to do the same.
The nearby Twin Valley School District had announced it would be closed Monday “out of an abundance of caution.”
The teens managed to escape by overpowering two prison employees, Beohm said.
“So they were able to get the keys and then they were able to get out the side door, or one of the doors,” Beohm added.
He said the escapees likely got through the fence of the facility by going under it.
The escapees attempted to break into a car sometime around midnight to 1 a.m., Beohm said.
“I don’t know what alerted the homeowners, but they broke the window of the car, lights came on, and then they took off,” he said. It’s unclear how far the location of the attempted car break-in is from the facility.
Multiple law enforcement agencies had searched for the escaped offenders and established a perimeter around the facility, Beohm said Sunday night. Weather prevented a helicopter from aiding in the search overnight, but authorities had drones up in the area, he sad Monday.
Abraxas Academy is a “secure residential treatment program” that provides “specialized care for delinquent male youth between the ages of 14 to 18 in 9th grade or above,” according to the facility’s website.
“Treatment at the Academy is for youth who demonstrate a consistent display of delinquent patterns through multiple placements, serious charges, and problematic behaviors. Youth are admitted to the Academy for either habitual offending behaviors or for a history of sexual offending behavior,” the website reads.
CNN has reached out to Abraxas Academy and the Berks County District Attorney’s Office for comment.
