Teenage Escapee Granted Signature Bond

ATLANTA - A suspect who escaped from Atlanta's brand new police headquarters went before a judge Friday.

A judge granted Matthew Wells a $2,000 signature bond and made his escape charge a misdemeanor.

Wells -- 18-years-old -- was being questioned in a shooting investigation, when he was able to get away.

Wells was caught about 24 hours after he escaped. Surveillance video shows Wells getting on the building's elevator and walking free.

Atlanta police officials said Wells broke shackles securing his ankles to a hook on the floor, disabled the lock of the holding room door, went down a back elevator and over a barbed-wire fence to escape.

APD officials said the holding room is on the third floor of the new police CID building, where the detectives do their interviews.

Wells was allegedly involved in a shooting with Clark Atlanta University Public Safety officers Wednesday.

Authorities said CAU Public Safety officers responded to a call regarding suspicious persons with possible weapons on a neighborhood street a few blocks away from the campus at approximately 2 p.m. Wednesday.

When officers arrived, said investigators, they reported see two armed men involved in some kind of a verbal altercation. The officers ordered the men to drop their weapons. When they did not comply, investigators said, the officers felt threatened and fired shots.

One man was injured and transported to Grady Hospital. No CAU officer was hurt.

The university is working closely with the Atlanta Police Department, which is taking the lead in conducting a full investigation.

University officials said the officers will be placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation.

Wells was apprehended after his escape at his girlfriend's Vine City apartment -- only blocks away from where the shootout with CAU police took place.

Detectives still don't know how he got out of what was supposed to be a locked holding cell.