Texas officer fired after inmate wheelchair escape

Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas — A guard at a Texas prison has been fired for "reckless endangerment" after a convicted sex offender escaped with a loaded pistol that had been smuggled to the inmate.

Officials also say all state prisons will also go through an accelerated security review.

Michelle Lyons, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, says guard Michael Price was fired Thursday from the Estelle High Security Unit near Huntsville.

Lyons said Price was the guard who should have searched Arcade Joseph Comeaux (KOH'-moh) Jr. as he was removed from his cell to be transferred.

Comeaux, armed with a loaded pistol, overpowered the guards while en route and took from them three state-issued weapons. He was captured Monday in Houston, after a week on the run.