A 17-year-old being held on a murder charge escaped in Philadelphia after being transported to a hospital Wednesday, triggering a search that involves the U.S. Marshals Service, officials said.
Shane Pryor ran off at around noon after he was transported in a van to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for a hand injury, police said.
“As the male was exiting that car, he was able to escape from staff and run from this area on foot,” Philadelphia Police Department Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore told reporters.
He had been held in custody since he was 15 years old on a 2020 murder charge, Vanore said. Pryor is still awaiting trial.
Pryor stands around 5 feet 7 inches tall, weights 180 pounds and was wearing a blue sweatsuit, police said.
Officers searched nearby buildings and parking garages while looking for Pryor, and video showed going him in and out of nearby buildings, Vanore said. Pryor might have also taken off his sweatshirt, he said.
Police also Wednesday were checking areas where his relatives live. They asked for the public’s help in finding the teen.
The U.S. Marshals Service said they were looking for Pryor and that he may be driving a stolen Ford F-150 pickup with Pennsylvania plates of ZTS-0503. People are urged to not approach him and to call 911 if they see him.
Pryor’s mother told NBC Philadelphia that she hopes her son turns himself in. Pryor’s lawyer, Paul DiMaio, said that the teen has maintained he is innocent and that a judge had recently denied his request to be tried as a juvenile.
“I just think the kid is scared. The judge denying the decertification may be the reason for his escape since he has always maintained his innocence,” DiMaio told NBC Philadelphia.
More details on the killing were not released by Vanore in a briefing to reporters Wednesday.
NBC Philadelphia, citing court documents, reported that Pryor was accused of fatally shooting a woman in the head in an alley.
When Pryor left the van he did not have shackles on, Vanore said. He did not know whether the teenager got out of them or if they were never on. The incident is under investigation, Vanore said.