HILLSBOROUGH, North Carolina -- A convicted murderer is on the loose after escaping from a North Carolina hospital Tuesday morning, officials said.

Ramone Alston, 30, escaped from North Carolina Department of Corrections custody while receiving medical care at UNC Hospital in Hillsborough, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

The sheriff's office said Alston managed to free himself from leg restraints while inside a North Carolina Department of Adult Correction (DAC) van in the parking lot of the clinic.

"As they (the officers) pulled up to the back entrance of the hospital and as they were removing Mr. Alston from the vehicle, he broke away from the officers in the parking lot and ran to the woods," DAC Communications Director Keith Acree said.

Two officers were in charge

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