Pennsylvania police search for 9 juveniles who escaped from detention facility during a riot

MORGANTOWN, Penn. (AP) — Authorities in Pennsylvania launched a search Sunday night for nine people who escaped from a juvenile detention facility following a riot.

The Reading division of the Pennsylvania State Police and other agencies were searching for nine juveniles who escaped from Abraxas Academy around 8 p.m., Pennsylvania State Police Trooper David Beohm said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

State and local police were called to take control of the juvenile center in Morgantown, about 49 miles (78.8 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia, after the riot began inside the facility, the Caernarvon Township Police Department said in a statement on its website.

The juveniles were wearing white or grey shirts,” the department said, advising anyone encountering them to immediately call 911.

Abraxas Academy is a secure residential treatment program providing “specialized care for delinquent male youth between the ages of 14 to 18 in 9th grade or above,” according to the facility’s website.

The Pennsylvania State Police did not immediately respond to a message from The Associated Press seeking additional information.

The search for the escaped juveniles follows shortly after the capture of an escaped murderer who eluded Pennsylvania authorities for several days despite an extended manhunt.