Wossen Assaye: Police recapture escaped prisoner after nine-hour manhunt

Wossen Assaye had escaped from the Inova Fairfax Medical Campus in Falls Church, Virginia

A prisoner described as "armed and dangerous" who fled a suburban hospital in Washington today has been recaptured after a nine-hour manhunt.

Wossen Assaye, 42, who has been accused of robbing a bank, escaped from the Inova Fairfax Medical Campus in Falls Church, Virginia, at about 3am local time.

During his escape, he overpowered a guard and took his weapon, the Fairfax County Police Department tweeted. The messaged added that at least one gun shot heard in hospital.

No one was injured before Assaye fled wearing only a hospital gown, police have since confirmed.

The ensuing police manhunt saw Assaye allegedly steal two cars before he was seized in Washington.

Fairfax County Police spokesman Roger Henriquez told CBS News that a woman was driving a car before she discovered Assaye in the back seat.

Henriquez said that the car sustained heavy front-end damage, either during the woman's escape or when Assaye was driving.

Assaye is now in the custody of the city's police, Fairfax County Police said.

Police earlier believed that Assaye may have been with his girlfriend, who the police provided a picture of.

Assaye was being held by Alexandria City on federal charges for armed bank robbery and was taken to hospital after he had attempted to self-harm.

While the manhunt was ongoing, Fairfax County ambulances were forced to ferry patients to other hospitals instead of the Inova Fairfax Medical Campus.

According to a worker at the hospital an emergency announcement came over a loud speaker that instructed patients to remain in their rooms.