SAN ANTONIO – Updated at 6 p.m.:
The Sheriff's Office released the following statement in regards to the retirement of Assistant Jail Administrator Deputy Chief Laura Balditt, who is second in command of the jail:
"Deputy Chief Laura Balditt, the Assistant Jail Administrator, has tendered her intent to retire from the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Javier Salazar has accepted the notice of retirement, after Deputy Chief Balditt’s 31 years of service to the Citizens of Bexar County.
The announcement regarding the new appointment for the Assistant Jail Administrator will be made no later than Friday, April 6th."
This comes on the heels of three capital murder suspects escaping from the jail last month, and after two inmates broke a hole through a wall in an escape attempt Thursday morning.
Updated at 4 p.m.:
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said two inmates are being questioned in connection with a foiled jail escape Thursday at the Bexar County Jail.
At a news conference, Salazar identified the men as Martin Herrera and Ramon Medellin Jr., who have been held at the jail since October 2017.
Salazar said the men tried the escape from a second-floor cell by using makeshift tools and rebar to dig out.
The sheriff said the makeshift tools included bits of metal and a brick in a sock used to impact the wall.
Herrera was working alone until Medellin joined him Wednesday night, Salazar said.
Original story:
An escape attempt was thwarted Thursday morning at the Bexar County Jail, after officials discovered a large hole on the second floor of the facility.
The newly created Contraband Abatement Team found the breakage in the outer structure of the jail but the facility remained secure, BCSO officials said.
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The jail and surrounding streets were on lockdown for several hours.
This attempt comes just one month after three male jail inmates, all being held on capital murder charges, escaped before being captured the same day.
Thursday's incident came less than a day after the Texas Commission on Jail Standards released a report detailing deficiencies found inside the jail.
The report revealed that BCSO personnel knew in January that contraband had been brought into the facility and that an escape plan was in the works, but that they did not search for contraband until after the trio had escaped.
Salazar said Thursday that he still has confidence in his jail command staff.
"There's no such thing anywhere in the world, that a complete escape-proof prison or jail exists. I can tell you that for a fact," said Salazar.
RELATED: BCSO knew of inmates' escape plan 2 months before it happened, state inspection finds