DONALDSONVILLE - Three inmates were able to breach a recreation area wall to escape from the Ascension Parish Jail Friday night, Sheriff Bobby Webre told WBRZ 2 News.

The escapees were captured a couple of hours later, following a search that involved tracking dogs, drones and a helicopter.

Webre said the trio got out of an internal recreation area, then moved across an outdoor recreation zone and climbed a fence to make their escape, about 8:35 p.m.

Blake Menefee, 21, was in custody on weapons, theft, flight and drug charges; Logan Delana, 27, was being held on similar counts; and Zackary Freman, 30, was charged with motor vehicle theft.

Menefee and Delana were arrested in Gonzales in January in connection with the kidnapping and shooting of a retired law enforcement officer in Mississippi. They are also suspects in home invasions in the Gulfport area.

Their escape prompted officials to set up a perimeter around the jail and to alert the public about the manhunt.

Webre said the three men did not get very far, describing the capture as taking place "a stone's throw away" from the jail.

Two of the men were caught in a wooded area next to a construction equipment rental company. The third escapee was found behind a former catering business.

One of the men had sustained minor injuries, Webre said.

The sheriff's office was assisted in its search by the Louisiana Department of Corrections, which provided a K9 unit, and by the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office aerial unit. The St. James Parish Sheriff's Office and Louisiana State Police set up roadblocks while the search was taking place.

The jail is located along Lemanville Cut Off Road east of Donaldsonville.

The investigation into the escape is in its early stages.