A search is underway for two prisoners, including one accused of multiple homicides, who escaped over the weekend from a correctional facility in Philadelphia unnoticed for nearly 19 hours, authorities said.
Ameen Hurst, 18, and Nasir Grant, 24, escaped from the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center on Sunday night, but officials did not realize they were missing until Monday afternoon, according to Blanche Carney, commissioner of the Philadelphia Department of Prisons.
The pair escaped at 8:30 p.m. through a hole in a fence on the playground, he said. They were seen on surveillance video cutting the hole, police said.
However, the inmates were erroneously counted present during counts at 11 p.m. Sunday and 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. Monday. It wasn’t until a head count at 3 p.m. Monday that officials realized Grant and Hurst were gone, Carney said.
While an investigation is underway to determine how it was miscounted, «the goal here now is to make sure that these two individuals are immediately apprehended and taken back into custody,» he said, adding that the last time there was a rape was in 2010. .
Grant and Hurst were housed in the same unit but in separate cells, he said. They left their housing unit, went to the playground, to which they had free access, and escaped through the gap in the fence, according to authorities. Carney noted that the yard should have been secured at the time, but personnel patrolling the area were not there.
She said there is no alarm to notify authorities of the holes in the fence.
The entire facility has been put on lockdown and perimeter patrols have been enhanced after the breakout. All other inmates are accounted for, Carney said. The US Marshals Service and the Philadelphia Police Department are assisting in the search.
Carney said the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections will conduct a security assessment to address any vulnerabilities at the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center.
Frank Vanore, assistant commissioner of investigations for the Philadelphia Police Department, outlined the crimes for which the two men were jailed during a news conference Monday, calling Hurst «dangerous.»
Hurst is charged with multiple homicides and Grant with narcotics violations.
Hurst was taken into custody on March 21, 2021, and has been charged with multiple counts of murder, Vanore said.
The first homicide occurred on Christmas Eve 2020, he said. Aspiring comedian Dyewou Nyshawn Scruggs, 20, has died after being shot multiple times while recording a live post on social media. NBC Philadelphia informed.
On March 12, 2021, Hurst opened fire behind an apartment building, killing two people and wounding two others, Vanore said. The news station identified the victims as Naquon Smith, 24, and Tamir Brown, 16.
A few days later, Hurst fatally shot another man shortly after the victim was released from the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Center, which is part of the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center, Vanore said.
In that case, 20-year-old Rodney Hargrove had been released from the facility for just 45 minutes when he was shot March 18 while waiting for relatives to pick him up, NBC Philadelphia reported.
«He’s a very dangerous individual from what we know and we’re looking to get him back,» Vanore said of Hurst.
Grant was charged with criminal conspiracy, violation of a firearm, criminal conspiracy and drug charges, it added.
Mayor Jim Kenney expressed his outrage over the leak at Monday’s news conference.
«I’m really mad about it. There’s no reason for this,» he said.
“Clearly the system is broken. People didn’t do what they were supposed to do. It is empty. We want to find exactly who, exactly how often, and what we need to do to shore it up again,» Kenney added.