A man facing murder charges in a 2014 fatal shooting briefly escaped police custody in a hospital parking lot after being transferred to the facility for a fake injury.
Vayshawn McLean, 20, was transported to the Southeastern Regional Medical Center in Lumberton, N.C., after complaining of a shoulder injury, according to The Robesonian.
McLean was examined by a Robeson County jail nurse who recommended he be taken to the hospital for treatment. He was put in leg shackles, a waist chain, and handcuffs, but one wrist was left free because of the alleged injury.
Deputies arrived at the hospital and parked in the emergency room parking lot. As McLean exited the vehicle, he was able to break one leg free from the ankle cuffs and began to run. He was apprehended approximately 75 yards from the police van.
“The deputies did a great job apprehending him. It was a short escape when he ran, they ran him down and he was caught swiftly,” says Robeson County Sheriff Kenneth Sealey. “Hospital security assisted promptly. I want to thank them as well.”
An investigation is underway by the sheriff’s office’s Major Crimes Unit to determine how McLean was able to unlock his leg shackles. No key was found on or near McLean.
According to the Sealey, inmates are checked for contraband before leaving the jail.
McLean was a suspect in the fatal shooting of a convenience store customer in December 2014 and was arrested during a traffic stop, reports WRAL.
Police say two men entered Roscoe’s Convenience Store in Red Springs on December 11 and demanded money. Clerk Rodney Maynard and customer James Johnson were shot. Johnson died from his injuries.
McLean was charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury.
Four other men are facing charges in connection with the murder.
