en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Alcatraz_escape_attempts
1 correction found
were able to enter the weapons room and obtain the keys to the recreation yard door.
This reverses a key fact of the 1946 escape attempt. Official histories say the prisoners got weapons and cellhouse keys, but they did not have the key needed to unlock the recreation yard door.
Full reasoning
Official Bureau of Prisons history says the six inmates in the 1946 "Battle of Alcatraz" escape attempt "gain[ed] access to weapons and cellhouse keys," but that their plan "began to fall apart when the inmates found they did not have the key to unlock the recreation yard door." In other words, the missing recreation-yard key was the central reason the escape failed.
A secondary history source from HISTORY.com says the same thing: the prisoners "were able to gain access to weapons, but not the keys needed to leave the prison." That directly contradicts the article's statement that they obtained the keys to the recreation yard door.
2 sources
- BOP: Alcatraz
During this incident, known as the "Battle of Alcatraz" ... six prisoners were able to overpower cellhouse officers and gain access to weapons and cellhouse keys... Their plan began to fall apart when the inmates found they did not have the key to unlock the recreation yard door.
- Alcatraz - Prison, Location & Al Capone | HISTORY
The most famous escape attempt resulted in a battle, from May 2 to May 4, 1946, in which six prisoners overpowered cellhouse officers and were able to gain access to weapons, but not the keys needed to leave the prison.