Police and prison officials are warning the public in Dartmouth, N.S. to avoid a dangerous inmate who was mistakenly released from prison early Friday.

Police say 22-year-old Eliahs Knudsen Kent was mistakenly allowed to walk away from the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility, where he was awaiting trial on a long list of criminal charges that include attempted murder.

“He is very dangerous,” correctional services director Sean Kelly told CTV Atlantic. Kelly says prison officials are investigating the accidental release. “We will be looking at absolutely every detail. We’ll be looking at policy and procedures. We’ll be looking at staff conduct,” he said.

Lena Diab, Nova Scotia’s minister of justice, says she’s upset by the mistaken release, which is the third such mistake since tighter release protocols were established in 2011.

“An offender was released that shouldn’t have been released,” she said. “I’m angry. I’m appalled. I don’t know how this could possibly happen.”

Kent was scheduled to appear in court next week on a long list of charges, including attempted murder, home invasion, robbery and using a firearm in the commission of an offence.

The charges stem from a break-in at a 75-year-old man’s Dartmouth home in September. Police say the older man awoke to find two male intruders attempting to steal guns from his storage cabinet. He tried to stop them and was struck in the head several times with the butt end of one of his own rifles.

Police say Kent was wearing a red hoodie with the word “Cocaine” written in white across the front at the time of his mistaken release. He was also wearing grey sweat pants and white sneakers. He is described as a six-foot-tall, 145-pound Caucasian man with dark hair.

Dartmouth police say they are checking with Kent’s family members and investigating his frequent haunts as part of their search.

Anyone who sees Kent is asked not to approach him, and to contact police immediately.

Nova Scotia has seen a number of mistakenly-released inmates in recent years. Eight prisoners were accidentally let out between 2007 and 2010, before a new reporting and release policy was put in place in 2011. The province has also seen three prisoners accidentally released ahead of schedule.