Philadelphia officials are offering a $20,000 reward for information about two men, including one charged in multiple homicides, who escaped a correctional facility and weren\u2019t discovered missing until nearly a full day after they slipped through a hole in a fence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are adamant and working tirelessly to get these two dangerous individuals back in custody and that is the focus of our investigation,\u201d Blanche Carney, the Department of Prisons commissioner, said during a news conference Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They were discovered missing around 3 p.m. Monday, she said, noting there were three headcounts in the interim \u2013 11 p.m. Sunday and 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. Monday \u2013 during which their absence wasn\u2019t noticed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Officials are trying to figure out why those three counts didn\u2019t discover the two missing men, Carney said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cClearly the system screwed up and people didn\u2019t do what they were supposed to do,\u201d Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said during the news conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Carney said Tuesday that she does not plan to resign and that lack of staffing is \u201cnot necessarily\u201d what contributed to the escape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are digging and combing through the timeline. It is imperative that we go through the timeline moment by moment so we can ascertain and ask those questions,\u201d Carney said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The commissioner said that \u201ca lot of rebuilding\u201d of trust needs to happen in the community because \u201cpeople are relying on us to provide public safety.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have victims\u2019 families here and my heart goes out to them,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m accountable, because when I hold myself accountable, it\u2019s looking at, was policy followed? And if it wasn\u2019t then I have to take appropriate action.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Philadelphia District Attorney\u2019s Office said Tuesday it\u2019s in touch with families and witnesses impacted by the homicides allegedly committed by one of the two prison escapees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe safety of victims and witnesses who may be at risk of intimidation or retaliation is of the highest importance to our prosecutors and to the DA\u2019s Victim Support Services Division,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe DA\u2019s Office is also in constant communication with Philadelphia Police and other law enforcement partners that are working with urgency to locate these fugitives, return them to state custody, and thoroughly investigate the incidents leading up to and immediately following the breach that occurred at the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center on Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
David Robinson, president of a local labor union that includes corrections workers, said it was a \u201cshame\u201d that Carney has no plans to resign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s time for new leadership. We had a vote of no confidence on May 2nd. It was unanimous,\u201d Robinson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Robinson said the city\u2019s prisons are \u201cseverely understaffed\u201d and estimated that there was a shortage of almost 900 correctional staff across three facilities in Philadelphia, including around 100 at the prison where the escape happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been that way for a while now. The critical understaffing started in 2019 and it just went totally down,\u201d Robinson said. \u201cYou can\u2019t cut corners inside a prison. You can\u2019t. One thing is for sure \u2013 you cannot cut corners, you cannot cut posts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n