Eric Abril, suspect in Roseville's Mahany Park shooting, taken back into custody after hospital escape
ROSEVILLE -- Eric Abril, the suspect in the April 6 fatal shooting at Roseville's Mahany Park who escaped from custody while at a hospital over the weekend, is now in custody.
The Placer County Sheriff's Office confirmed just before 1 p.m. Monday that Abril is in custody.
Law enforcement officers converged at the Edgewood Apartments complex off Shannon Bay Drive. There, neighbors say Abril was located in the Antelope Creek ravine just behind the complex.
CBS13's Tori Apodaca saw Abril get led away in handcuffs. He had apparently ditched his orange jail pants and was only in his jail-issued boxers, with no shirt or shoes on.
Abril was taken back to Sutter Roseville Hospital to be medically cleared, authorities said at a press conference on Monday after he was re-arrested. He has since been re-booked into the Placer County Jail after being medically cleared.
Neighbors were on edge since Abril went missing from Sutter Roseville on Sunday.
Surveillance footage captured Abril walking along Rainier Avenue in Rocklin at around 3:39 a.m. Sunday, and then on Saddletree Lane a few minutes later.
A map from the Placer County Sheriff's Office showed their search area expanded to include Rocklin, Loomis, Whitney, Granite Bay and Roseville. Bearcats, police and K-9s followed leads to Greenbrae Drive in Rocklin.
"There's a lot of open area here and that'd be a prime area that he could go in and out of," said Rocklin resident Tom Griffin.
The Rocklin neighborhood where Abril was located is connected by green belts to Sutter Roseville.
Abril was taken to the hospital on Thursday for an unknown medical condition, according to the sheriff's office. Preliminary information from the sheriff's office's investigation has found that the deputy was not asleep during the escape. The sheriff's office also stated that it appears Abril was able to defeat his restraints before walking out the hospital door.
The deputy tried to chase Abril but lost him in the parking lot.
"I think that's a little weird that he could just escape a hospital after you do a huge crime like that," said Breyson Gonzalez, another Rocklin resident.
Abril was initially arrested on April 6 following the shooting. CHP officers had been attempting to serve a warrant for his arrest when he resisted arrest and took two hostages. One of the hostages, 72-year-old James MacEgan, was fatally shot by Abril during the incident. MacEgan's wife Patricia MacEgan, the other person taken hostage, was also shot but survived her injuries. A CHP officer was also wounded during the incident.
"The awful things that he did, it's a better thing for him to be off the streets than on the streets," Griffin said.
More than 70 law enforcement personnel from neighboring agencies are helping in the search. The Placer County Sheriff's Office said, as of Monday morning, they've investigated a total of 64 tips since the start of the search.
Search efforts on Monday were focused on the eastern Roseville and Rocklin areas, the sheriff's office said.
Monday night, Rocklin neighbors that had been on edge are sleeping soundly.
"We'll sleep easier tonight. My husband didn't sleep at all last night, he was checking the cameras all night long," said Jennifer Fusco.
Fusco lives on Zion Court above where Abril was captured in the brush along Antelope creek.
"I feel much safer sleeping knowing that he is not right behind my house in the creek," said her young son, Enzo Fusco.
Abril was hiding out in the dense brush along the creek when he was captured.
"Our SWAT teams patiently worked through this thick, heavy brush from one end to the other," said Sheriff Wayne Woo in a news conference announcing Abril's capture Monday.
It's a tough search that paid off as Sheriff Woo now turns his attention inward to how this escape happened. The Sheriff said Monday he accepts full responsibility.
"I take the protection of this community seriously and quite frankly as the Sheriff in charge of the jail and the custody of prisoners, this should have never happened," said Woo.
Neighbors are thankful that Abril did not hurt anyone while he was on the run.
"Carjacking, potentially. Grabbing a weapon. Who knows with someone like that?" asked Tyler Bronson, a Rocklin neighbor.
This community now hopes a lesson has been learned.
"I'm glad that he was caught. Hopefully, they learn from this, I'm sure they did. Everybody makes mistakes," said Jennifer Fusco.
Sheriff Woo said Monday an investigation is now underway into how Abril escaped custody and if any department protocol was broken by the sole deputy assigned to guard him.
As of Monday, the deputy was still actively employed and on duty at the Placer County Sheriff's Office.