The Joker escaped Arkham Asylum on Valentine's Day, 2014.
From what the police could piece together, the raid began around eight o'clock in the evening. Camera footage, which was left in-tact by the assailants, showed an employee, later identified as Dr. Harleen Quinzel, swipe into the building after-hours equipped with an unmarked duffle bag. At that time, the Arkham Asylum guards began to switch to night shift staff, therefore, the entire post suffered at a point of vulnerability. A small number of doctors, psychiatrists, and hourly employees remained in the building when the duffle bag was dropped into the cell of the killer clown. Dr. Quinzel, despite her assistance in the raid itself, did not reappear from the Joker's cell until the escape began.
A gang of suited men in a number of different masks invaded the premises, tripping alarms and taking out most of the Arkham guards. The squad was led by an unmasked, bearded man with another unmarked duffle. Several patients ran free throughout the facility, unattended. Dr. Quinzel was abducted by two shooters and carried into a therapy facility containing electroshock equipment, where she was then tortured for nearly half an hour, and released as the entire masked squad left in a pair of delivery vans with Mr. J in tow. Dr. Quinzel has not been recovered by police, dead or alive.
Of course, the press had a field day on the morning of February 15. JOKER ESCAPES appeared in bold lettering across the cover of the Gotham Gazette, accompanied by screen-grabs of the security footage from the facility. GNN aired an hour-long feature on the story, replacing most of the morning news.
Speculation flew through the city like wildfire. Suspicions of Allegro's involvement, as well as the involvement of several other villains-at-large, circled on every major Gotham news network. News pundits shared their takes on their morning radio shows, joking the question that seemed to engulf all of Gotham City:
Where was the Batman now?