Eight prisoners could be “frankly anywhere” in the US after breaking out of a New Orleans jail. Authorities have been left wondering – how did they do it?

The audacious escape saw 10 men flee the jail on Friday through a hole behind a toilet and scale a wall, in scenes reminiscent of The Shawshank Redemption movie.

The men are believed to have made their jailbreak while the lone guard assigned to their cell pod was away getting food.

While two have been recaptured, eight of the men – among them accused murderers – remain at large. Prison officials believe they may have had inside help.

Surveillance footage showed the escapees sprinting out of the Orleans Justice Centre, using blankets to scale a barbed wire fence and then sprinting across a nearby highway.

The absence of the men went unnoticed for more than seven hours – officers only learned of their escape the next morning during a routine headcount.

A photograph showing the hole the prisoners escaped through also revealed scrawled messages – including one saying “To Easy LoL” with an arrow pointing at the gap.

They ditched their jail uniforms after leaving the facility – and it is still unclear how some of them obtained regular clothes so quickly, officials said.

Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said the men were able to get out because of “defective locks”.

Sheriff Hutson said there are indications that people inside her department helped the fugitives escape.

“It’s almost impossible, not completely, but almost impossible for anybody to get out of this facility without help.”

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Who are the escaped men?

The men range from 19 years old to 42, with most being in their 20s.

One of the fugitives, Derrick Groves, was convicted on two charges of murder and two charges of attempted murder for his role in the 2018 Mardi Gras Day shootings of two men.

Another escapee, Corey Boyd, had pleaded not guilty to a murder charge.

Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams said some of the men “have a history of witness intimidation of citizens who were brave enough to speak up”.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill called the escape “beyond unacceptable” and said local authorities waited too long to inform the public.

She said she reached out to neighbouring states to alert them about the escape, saying they have had plenty of time to get to “frankly anywhere across the country”.

A former FBI director has been interviewed over a social media post interpreted by US officials as a threat against the US president.

James Comey, who led the bureau from 2013 until he was fired in 2017 by Donald Trump during his first term in office, shared a photo of seashells appearing to form the number 86 47.

He captioned the Instagram post: “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”

Some US officials have interpreted the post as a threat, alleging that 86 47 means to violently remove Mr Trump from office, including by assassination.

Mr Comey later removed the post, saying he thought the numbers “were a political message” and that he was not aware that the numeric arrangement could be associated with violence.

“I didn’t realise some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind, so I took the post down,” Mr Comey said.

Mr Trump later hit back, rejecting the former FBI director’s explanation and telling Fox News: “He knew exactly what that meant”.

US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on X, confirmed Mr Comey had been interviewed as part of “an ongoing investigation” but gave no indication of whether he might face further action.

The Secret Service is part of the Department of Homeland Security.

A spokesman for the Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting the president, said they were aware of the post and the agency would “take rhetoric like this very seriously”.

Current FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau was aware of the post and was conferring with the Secret Service.

The Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service are investigating the post “calling for the assassination” of Mr Trump and “will respond appropriately”, Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem said on Thursday.

Donald Trump Jr. accused Mr Comey of “casually calling for my dad to be murdered”.

A White House deputy chief of staff, Tayor Budowich, said Mr Comey had put out “what can clearly be interpreted as a hit on the sitting president of the United States”.

“This is deeply concerning to all of us and is being taken seriously,” Mr Budowich wrote on the social media platform X.

Another White House staffer, James Blair, said the post was a “Clarion Call (…) to terrorists & hostile regimes to kill the President of the United States as he travels in the Middle East”.

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Mr Trump fired Mr Comey in May 2017 for botching an investigation into 2016 democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, the White House said at the time.

While Mr Comey was the director of the FBI, the agency opened an investigation into possible collusion between the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and Russia to help get Mr Trump elected.

R&B star Cassie Ventura told Sean “Diddy” Combs “I’m not a rag doll, I’m someone’s child”, after he allegedly beat her outside a lift at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles in March 2016, a New York court has heard.

Footage of Combs appearing to drag and kick the R&B star in a corridor was initially released by CNN in May 2024. Combs subsequently apologised for his actions.

The footage of the incident, which Cassie says took place after she left a “freak off” sex session, has since been widely shared and has been shown to the jury in court as evidence for the prosecution.

Combs, 55, faces five criminal counts: one count of racketeering conspiracy; two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. He denies the allegations against him.

Cassie, whose full name is Casandra Ventura, alleges she was physically abused and degraded for years by the powerful hip-hop star and music executive, accusing him of violence, coercion, blackmail and rape.

The 38-year-old, who is the star witness for the prosecution, faced a fourth day on the stand, with the hip-hop mogul’s defence lawyers concluding their two-day cross-examination.

Heavily pregnant, she is expecting her third child in just a few weeks.

Prosecutors say Combs exploited and used his network of employees to facilitate illegal activities, while defence lawyers have been attempting to show jurors she consented to their highly charged “swingers lifestyle”.

The court also heard further details of Cassie’s allegation of rape against Combs, information around her stay at a trauma and addiction centre in Arizona and further messages appearing to show her enthusiasm for freak offs.

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Cassie was asked about singer Chris Brown – who she denied dancing with – and tells the court Combs had form for taking her belongings, including her phone, car and watch, when he was angry with her.

An audio recording was also played to the court, appearing to show Cassie threatening a man she claimed to have a video of her at a freak off on his phone, screaming: “I will f*** you up and it won’t be my hand”.

It was not clear as to whether such a video ever existed.

Cassie was also asked about her use of drugs, and said she had struggled with opioid addiction since 2022.

She described a 45-day stay at a rehabilitation centre in Arizona in 2023, where she underwent EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) to help resolve trauma.

The centre specialises in treating “sex and intimacy issues”, but Cassie confirmed she was treated only for trauma.

The court also heard about Cassie’s allegation of rape against Combs in August or September 2018, by which time she says they had split up.

The pair were together, on and off, for about 11 years from 2007 to 2018.

‘I have love for the past, what it was’

Describing Combs taking her for dinner at an Italian restaurant in Malibu, she says he raped her after driving her home, after “acting strangely” during the meal.

When asked if she believed his behaviour was due to his “bipolar disorder”, Cassie answered “yes”.

The jury was then shown a text message which included a heart emoji, sent by Cassie to Combs the following day.

When asked if she still had love for him, she said: “I have love for the past, what it was.”

Cassie confirmed she saw Combs the following month, when she said she had consensual sex with him, during which her now-husband, personal trainer Alex Fine, attempted to FaceTime her.

She said she didn’t tell Fine she had been raped by Combs at the time, but that he “punched a wall” when she later told him.

Combs paid close attention to Cassie’s cross-examination, leaning in to read transcripts on the monitor in front of him and passing down notes to his lawyer. Cassie did not look at him throughout the trial.

A ‘$10m’ settlement with the Intercontinental

Towards the end of her questioning by the defence, Cassie was read a message from Combs in September 2012, in which he asked “do you want to have our last FO [freak off] tonight?” – to which she responded, “I don’t want to freak off for the last time, I want it to be the first time for the rest of our lives”.

In a surprise turn, Cassie also confirmed that an expected settlement of $10m had been agreed with the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles, where she was assaulted.

Following her time in court, she released a statement saying she hoped her testimony would help others “heal from the abuse and fear”.

“For me, the more I heal, the more I can remember,” she said. “And the more I can remember, the more I will never forget.”

The next witness, special agent Yasin Binda, detailed items found during a search of Combs’s Park Hyatt hotel room in 2004, following his arrest that year.

She showed the court images of exhibits including lubricant and baby oil, drugs and a bum bag containing $9,000 (£6,800) in cash.

‘Hit over the head with a skillet of eggs’

At the end of the day, Dawn Richard, a former member of girl group Danity Kane and trio Dirty Money, gave evidence, telling the court she observed Combs attacking Cassie, including a time he “hit her over the head with a skillet of eggs”.

She went on to say Combs “dragged” Cassie upstairs where she “heard glass breaking”, adding she had “never seen anything” like it before – “he was punching his girlfriend”.

Richard said she didn’t intervene or report the incident to the police as she was “scared”.

The singer sued Combs last year, accusing him of physical abuse, groping and psychological abuse during her time working with him.

Combs has been jailed since September and faces at least 15 years or possibly life in prison if convicted.

The trial is set to last for seven more weeks.