Two Georgia inmates suspected of killing two corrections officers in an escape from a prisoner transport bus this week have been captured, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation tweeted Thursday.
Donnie Russell Rowe and Ricky Dubose were taken into custody after a car chase in Tennessee, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal tweeted.
The pair were captured in Rutherford County about 250 miles from Madison, Georgia, where they allegedly stole a pickup truck. It was unclear whether they were still using the Ford F-250 when they were caught.
Rowe, 43, and Dubose, 24, were on a state corrections bus with 31 other prisoners Tuesday morning when the two somehow got out of what should have been a locked, gated rear section of the bus, police said.
Inmates Donnie Russell Rowe, left, and Ricky Dubose escaped from a bus Tuesday, authorities said.
The men entered the driver’s compartment, overpowered and disarmed Officers Christopher Monica and Curtis Billue while the bus was on State Route 16 between Eatonton and Sparta, police said.
At least one of the escapees shot and killed the officers, authorities said.
Monica, 42, a sergeant, worked for the department for almost eight years and leaves a wife. Billue, 58, a 10-year employee, is survived by his father, brother and sister, Georgia Department of Corrections Commissioner Greg Dozier said.
Rowe was serving a sentence of up to life in prison for armed robbery and aggravated assault in a 2001 case.
Dubose was sentenced to up to 20 years in prison for armed robbery, aggravated assault and theft in 2014. He also was convicted of theft and identity fraud in cases from August 2010.
They most recently were housed at Baldwin State Prison near Milledgeville. They and the other prisoners were being transported Tuesday to the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison, some 45 miles west of Eatonton.
The other prisoners on the bus Tuesday were taken to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and put on another corrections department bus.
Developing story – more to come
