Nasir Grant and Ameen Hurst: Manhunt underway for 2 'dangerous' men who escaped from a Philadelphia correctional facility and weren't discovered missing until nearly a day later
CNN —
Philadelphia officials are looking for two men, including one who is charged in multiple homicides, who escaped a correctional facility and weren’t discovered missing until nearly a full day after they slipped through a hole in a fence.
“We are adamant and working tirelessly to get these two dangerous individuals back in custody and that is the focus of our investigation,” Blanche Carney, the Department of Prisons commissioner, said during a news conference Monday.
The manhunt comes in the wake of other recent jail breaches, including four men who escaped a detention center in Hinds County, Mississippi, in April. All four have since been apprehended or found dead, officials said.
The Philadelphia escapees were identified as Nasir Grant, 24, and Ameen Hurst, 18. They escaped the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Facility through a hole in a recreation yard fence around 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Carney said.
They were discovered missing around 3 p.m. Monday, she said, noting there were three headcounts in the interim – 11 p.m. Sunday and 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. Monday – during which their absence wasn’t noticed.
Officials are trying to figure out why those three counts didn’t discover the two missing men, Carney said.
“Clearly the system screwed up and people didn’t do what they were supposed to do,” Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said during the news conference.
Hurst is described as 6-foot tall and weighing 140 pounds. He has been in custody since March 21, 2021, and was being held on charges related to four homicides dating back to Christmas Eve 2020, Philadelphia Police Department Deputy Commissioner of Investigations Frank Vanore said at the news conference.
Grant had been in custody since September 28, and was facing gun and narcotics charges, Vanore said. He is described as being 5-foot-9 and weighing 160 pounds.
Investigators asked anyone with information to call 215-686-TIPS (8477) or 911.
As soon as the escape was discovered, Carney put the facility on lockdown and increased headcounts and perimeter patrols, she said. The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections was also asked to conduct a facility vulnerability assessment and security assessment, Carney said.
“I’m really angry about it,” Kenney, the mayor, said. His top priority is finding Hurst and Grant, he said, and the second priority is assessing the system.
“There’s no reason for this. And if everybody followed through and did what they were supposed to do, we wouldn’t have this problem. So we’re going to find out what happened, who didn’t do what and get to the bottom of it,” Kenney said.
The facility has protocols in place that weren’t followed, Carney said, without providing details.
“That will be part of our investigation,” Carney said. “The goal here now is to make sure that these two individuals are apprehended promptly.”
Source: CNN
