CTV News has learned a man wanted on a Canada-wide arrest warrant is also a person of interest in connection with a double-shooting in Halifax last week.
Police issued a news release Tuesday, asking for the public’s help in locating 26-year-old Tyrell Peter Dechamp.
Police say he is considered unlawfully at large after he failed to return to his Halifax address by his 11 p.m. curfew on April 19.
A Canada-wide warrant was issued for Dechamp’s arrest Monday evening, although police have not officially linked him to recent shootings in the city.
“We recognize that the timing of this charge coincides with recent violent incidents in our community, however, we cannot identify persons of interest or suspects in ongoing investigations,” said Const. Dianne Woodworth in a statement.
“Officers are actively investigating the recent incidents, pursuing all investigative avenues and continuing to reach out to [the] community to address and prevent future acts of violence.”
However, sources tell CTV News that Dechamp is a person of interest after two people were shot – one of them fatally – in central Halifax last week.
On April 19 – the same night Dechamp disappeared - officers responded to the 2000 block of Gottingen Street before 11 p.m. after receiving reports of shots fired in the area.
When they arrived, officers found two men inside a vehicle. Naricho Clayton, 23, was pronounced dead at the scene. Police have ruled his death a homicide.
Another man, 31-year-old Ricardo Whynder, suffered life-threatening injuries.
Dechamp served two-thirds of a five-year sentence for second-degree murder and aggravated assault.
Parole documents reveal he killed a man by stabbing him in the neck and punched a woman hard enough to cause bleeding of the brain.
Dechamp was released on a number of conditions, including an order to stay in a halfway house in Halifax.
Corrections Canada confirms the halfway house is on Gottingen Street, located across the street from where the shooting took place.
"Based on information, he could be armed and definitely dangerous," said Const. Woodworth.
Police say Dechamp should not be approached, and that anyone who spots him should call 911 immediately.
Dechamp is described as a black man with a light complexion, brown eyes and short black hair. He is five-foot-nine inches tall and weighs 210 pounds, with a stocky build.
Police are also investigating the shooting deaths of 29-year-old Tyler Bradley Richards, who was found dead inside a Cook Avenue home on April 17, and 20-year-old Daverico Downey, whose body was found on Downey Road in North Preston, N.S. early Saturday morning.
No one has been charged in any of the incidents.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Bruce Frisko.