Murder Suspect Recaptured in Minnesota

UPDATE Sep 27, 2023 4:09 PM CDT

A murder suspect accidentally released from a detention center in Indiana has been recaptured in Minnesota, the state where there were three warrants out for his arrest. The Marion County Sheriff's Office in Indiana said Kevin Mason was recaptured in St. Paul on Wednesday after two weeks on the run, NBC News reports. Marion County Sheriff Kerry J. Forestal thanked the US Marshals Service "for concluding this manhunt and safely bringing Mason back into custody." Two clerks in Marion County have been fired over the errors that led to the 28-year-old suspect's release in Indianapolis on Sept. 13, two days after his arrest in connection with a 2021 shooting in Minneapolis.

Sep 22, 2023 1:49 AM CDT

Two days after he was arrested on suspicion of murder, Kevin Mason was accidentally released from an Indianapolis detention center and has been on the run ever since, police announced Tuesday—six days after his accidental release. Mason, 28, had three Minnesota warrants out for his arrest when he was detained in Indiana on September 11; one of those involves a fatal 2021 shooting for which he had been on the run for two years prior to his arrest, CNN reports. A "faulty records review" is to blame for his release on September 13, ABC News reports; the two inmate records clerks involved have been fired. The search for Mason has now been extended to other cities beyond Indianapolis, and a $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to his recapture.

Authorities say that after Mason's accidental release, he called his girlfriend for a ride and she picked him up at the jail and brought him a new cellphone. She was arrested Wednesday afternoon, CBS News reports. As for why police waited nearly a week to inform the public about the manhunt, police say the "quietness of the situation" gave them a "tactical advantage," and that they did not want to "send him running" or push him even further "underground." As for anyone who might be assisting him now, their message is: "We're going to be very aggressive in pursuing you. We will find you we will criminally charge you, just as we did as [girlfriend] Desiree Oliver." (More manhunt stories.)