The five who remain at large "are considered to be armed and dangerous,'' Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said, who lauded efforts to recapture the escapees.
They were allegedly helped by an employee of the prison.
Jail employee Sterling Williams, 33, has been charged with multiple counts of being a principal to simple escape and malfeasance in office. Williams told investigators he complied with a demand from one of the inmates to shut off the water to a cell, allowing the escapees to rip out a toilet and sink unit and climb through the hole in the wall that was created, Murrill said in a statement.
In the arrest affidavit, Williams said one of the inmates threatened to stab him with a "shank", a homemade knife, if he didn't follow instructions.
The daring escape from a long-troubled facility has put some of those closest to the crimes of the fugitives on edge, while other New Orleans residents say they've been going about business as usual.
While it is possible that Sterling Williams may have been threatened with harm if he didn’t comply with the inmates, he aided and abetted their escape.
As an employee, he could have alerted prison management to the dilemma and challenges he faced. Then, the escape could have been stopped before it started.
Meanwhile, the prosecutors who put at least one of the inmates behind bars are worried. Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams told reporters two of the lawyers who tried the case against Derrick Groves, who was convicted of two charges of second-degree murder and two charges of attempted second-degree murder with him have left town with their families "out of fear of retribution and retaliation."
He admitted he is personally afraid for his colleagues.
Anyone who is found to be aiding and abetting the remaining escapees, or harboring them, will be dealt with as criminals themselves.
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