WKYC-TV, Cleveland

LIMA, Ohio — T.J. Lane, who killed three students in an attack at Chardon High School in 2012, was recaptured early Friday morning, just hours after he escaped from prison in Lima, according to the State Highway Patrol.

Lane,19, was one of three inmates who escaped from the Allen Oakwood Correctional Institution at 7:45 p.m. Thursday. One of the inmates, Lindsey Bruce, was captured soon after.

Officials confirmed the capture of Clifford Opperud, 45, early Friday.

Lima police Sgt. Andy Green said officers searched woods and a residential area near the prison, about 80 miles south of Toledo.

Officials say Lane did not put up a fight and didn't make any comment when he was taken into custody by two State Highway Patrol officers on the Special Response Team. Authorities say he had a pitchfork at the time he was apprehended.

Lane was captured about 1:20 a.m. Bruce was apprehended shortly after the escape. Opperud was caught at 4:22 a.m. without incident.

Officials say the escape occurred during rec time and that Lane scaled a fence 100 feet from the main perimeter fence.

Authorities considered the escapees dangerous, but didn't believe they were armed.

The Allen Oakwood Correctional Institution is a minimum- and medium-security prison in Lima about 80 miles south of Toledo.

Opperud, 45, was serving a sentence for aggravated robbery, burglary and kidnapping.

When he was sentenced to life in prison without parole on March 20, 2013, Lane wore a T-shirt with "killer" scrawled across it, smirked and gestured obscenely toward families of his victims.

Lane had pleaded guilty to killing three students on the anniversary of the Feb. 27, 2012, attack at Chardon High, about 25 miles east of Cleveland.

When relatives of those killed addressed the court during sentencing, Lane stared with a smirk on his face.

The mother of victim Daniel Parmertor, 16, called Lane a "vile coward" and "a pathetic excuse for a human being," wishing him a slow, painful death. Dina Parmertor said she had nightmares, and her family had been physically sick because of the crimes.

"From now on, he will only be a killer," she said, as Lane's smile widened. "I want him to feel my anger toward him."

Holly Walczak expressed her hatred of the shooter. Her son Nick Walczak was shot four times and was paralyzed.

Before the case went to adult court, a juvenile court judge ruled that Lane was mentally competent to stand trial despite evidence that he suffered from hallucinations, psychosis and fantasies. Investigators said he admitted to the shooting, but said he didn't know why he did it.

"It was something I chose to do," Lane told deputies at the time.

In sentencing Lane, Judge David Fuhry of Geauga County Common Pleas Court noted that Lane had exhibited a lack of compassion, had no remorse and knew he was doing wrong. Fuhry described the shootings in Chardon High's cafeteria where students were waiting before school as a "merciless rampage. ... We haven't been provided a clear motive or even a murky one."

At the time of the attack, Lane was a student at Lake Academy in Willoughby, an alternative school for teens who hadn't done well in a traditional setting. The morning of the shootings, instead of taking the bus to the academy, he boarded the one bound to Chardon High.

Prosecutors say Lane carried a .22-caliber pistol and a knife to the school and fired 10 shots at a group of students in the cafeteria. Parmertor and Demetrius Hewlin, both 16, and Russell King Jr., 17, were killed.

Reached Thursday evening at her home in Chardon, Parmertor said of Lane's escape: "I'm disgusted that it happened. I'm extremely scared and panic-stricken. I can't believe it."

Ian Friedman of Cleveland, Lane's former counsel, posted on Twitter: "I've been asked whether he is a danger. Answer is no one ever wants to return to prison for a life sentence. Plus, case facts speak."

Chardon Local School District announced late Thursday there will be no classes in Chardon schools Friday in light of Lane's escape.

However, the middle school and the high school buildings planned to be open for anyone who wants counseling or just wants to talk, according to the district.

Contributing: Ryan Haidet, WKYC-TV, Cleveland, and The Associated Press