Six inmates overpowered and beat a jailer about midnight before escaping from a second-floor cell block at the Warren County jail.

Two of the escapees were recaptured, one before he made it out of the building. Late this morning, four remained at large, including one who is a suspect in a double shooting.

The detention officer, Rick Haggard, was admitted to River Region Medical Center, and was reported in stable condition.

“Officer Haggard opened a corridor door to cell block D, for an inmate to hand him (outgoing) mail,” Sheriff Martin Pace said this morning. Indications are that as Haggard opened the door, the inmate grabbed him and several others ran into the corridor. The inmates then overpowered Officer Haggard and beat him down.

“Haggard then managed to get past the inmates and secure the floor,” Pace said. “He locked the corridor door and locked the elevator down, but as they had beaten him down, they took his keys, they unlocked the stairwell that leads into the public lobby.”

Pace said when the inmates, all awaiting trial on charges by Vicksburg Police, reached the lobby they broke out a window and five fled.

Jamie Maurice Woods, 18, 237 Smith Road, was taken into custody by detention officers in the lobby. Louis Gaskin, 21, 901 Speed St. No. 16, was arrested by Vicksburg police in a cab 45 minutes later, Pace said.

The at-large escapees, with descriptions, charges they face and arrest dates, are:

Reginald Sims, 21, 208 Overlook Drive, 5-foot-6, 150 pounds, aggravated assault, Oct. 21;

Randy Morrison, 21, 1410 First East St., 5-foot-7, 168 pounds, armed robbery, July 10;

Derrick Hyland, 18, 426 Dana Road, 6-foot-2, 145 pounds, burglary and grand larceny, Sept. 23; and

Michael Woods, 34, Marilyn Drive, Jackson, 6-foot-1, 180 pounds, automobile theft, July 8.

Sims was sought for two weeks before being arrested in the Oct. 7 shootings of two Vicksburg men, both of whom have since been released from hospitals.

Pace said if anyone sees the escapees to exercise caution.

“There is no indication at this point that they are armed,” Pace said. “I would urge the public if they see them not to do anything but call 911.”

District Attorney Gil Martin said anyone who helps the escapees will also be prosecuted.

“These guys cannot hide without the help of friends and family,” he said. “Anyone caught assisting them will be charged with aiding an escapee.” That crime carries a maximum prison sentence of five years, Martin added.

“The best thing they can do for them is to turn them in,” Martin said.

Pace said additional charges would be filed against the escapees, although he said it was too early to specify what charges.

Escape is a felony, as is any assault on a law enforcement officer. Under Mississippi law, jail personnel are considered law enforcement officers.

A previous escape from the jail occurred three months ago, on Aug. 23. Then, three inmates left their cell block through a small gap in a wall that had been blocked by a modular toilet unit. They then chipped away bricks from near the base of an outside window. The three who escaped early one morning, were back in county custody in two days.

Another area escape occurred Oct. 29 when a man arrested by a Warren County law enforcement agency fled from the Issaquena County Jail. He was captured a week later by Vicksburg Police here after a foot chase.