Inmates Took Days in ‘Shawshank Redemption’-Style Prison Break

Cuomo says inmates are on the loose, authorities checking borders

This photo provided by New York State Governor's office shows Gov. Andrew Cuomo on a catwalk looking into the cell that inmates escaped from at a maximum-security prison near the Canadian border in Dannemora, NY. Darren McGee/New York State Governor's Office, via AP

DANNEMORA, N.Y.—Two murderers who used power tools to escape from prison must have taken days to cut through steel walls and pipes and break through the bricks, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday as a $100,000 reward was posted for information leading to their capture.

Authorities were investigating how the inmates obtained the power tools they used in the “Shawshank Redemption”-style breakout over the weekend.

“It was a sophisticated plan,” Cuomo said. “It took a period of time, no doubt, to execute.”

These are killers. They are murderers. They are now on the loose, and our first order of business is apprehending them.

— Andrew Cuomo, governor, New York