Police in Halifax are looking for a man who they say may be armed and dangerous.
A parole warrant was issued for Nicholas Roland Rhyno, 25, and Terrance Alexander Priest, 27, who failed to return to their Halifax halfway homes Saturday. Police only issued a release about their disappearance today.
Police say the pair, who are known to each other, left different halfway homes Saturday night and failed to return.
Rhyno turned himself in to police around 6:45 p.m. Thursday, but Priest is still missing.
Rhyno was sent to prison in 2009 for firearm offences related to a shooting on Spring Garden Road earlier that year, while Priest has past convictions for violent offences and is known to police in the New Glasgow area
Priest posted on his personal Facebook page as recently as yesterday, but he has managed to elude police.
"We do know, looking at their backgrounds, that they both have violent tendencies," says Const. Brian Palmeter, a spokesperson with the Halifax Regional Police. "We've decided not to wait any longer, but to ask the public for their assistance in locating them."
But some residents who live near one halfway house in the South End feel police should have told the public sooner.
"I think we should be informed when violent offenders escape," says one area resident. "I used to live in Kingston, Ontario; they'd tell us immediately because, you know, there are a lot of prisons there."
Police say they didn't alert the public earlier this week because they didn't believe the pair was setting out to commit a crime.
However, they do say people should not approach Priest, and if he is spotted, police should be notified immediately.
Priest is described as an aboriginal male with brown eyes and black hair. He is roughly five-feet-eight inches tall and weighs 190 pounds.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Ron Shaw
