Police in northern Virginia search for armed prisoner after hospital escape

This undated photo provided by the Fairfax County Police Department, in Virginia, shows prisoner Wossen Assaye. Police locked down Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va., early Tuesday, March 31, 2015, and closed area roads while they searched for Assaye, who they say is armed and dangerous after he escaped custody. (AP Photo/Fairfax County Police Department) (The Associated Press)

Fairfax County, Va. Police stand guard at Inova Fairfax Hospital Center in Falls Church, Va., Tuesday, march 31, 2015, where a prisoner broke free from his security guard and took his gun. One shot was fired early Tuesday as a guard wrestled with a prisoner, who then fled a northern Virginia hospital with a gun setting off a lockdown and search, police said. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) (The Associated Press)

A Fairfax County, Va. Police officer holds a ballistic shield as he stands guard at Inova Fairfax Hospital Center in Falls Church, Va., Tuesday, March 31, 2015, where a prisoner broke free from his security guard and took his gun. One shot was fired early Tuesday as a guard wrestled with a prisoner, who then fled a northern Virginia hospital with a gun setting off a lockdown and search, police said. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) (The Associated Press)

Police in northern Virginia have locked down a hospital and closed area roads while they search for a prisoner they say is armed and dangerous after he escaped custody.

Fairfax County police say in their verified Twitter account that they're searching the area around Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church early Tuesday after the escape. Police say the prisoner escaped the custody of a private security guard with the officer's gun.

Police say the prisoner, identified as Wossen Assaye, is wearing a hospital gown and no shoes.

They are asking people in the area to call police with information about anything suspicious.