NYC murder suspect mistakenly released from Rikers Island remains at-large: police

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A New York City murder suspect mistakenly released from Rikers Island remained at-large Wednesday, and corrections officers were warned that the 26-year-old is considered armed and so dangerous that they should call NYPD instead of trying to apprehend him themselves.

Christopher Buggs, 26, from Brooklyn, was mistakenly released from the Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Monday due to a clerical error. An NYPD spokesperson told Fox News he is still being sought Wednesday.

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Christopher Buggs, 26, from Brooklyn, had been held without bail awaiting trial for over three years. (NYPD Crime Stoppers)

Buggs -- jailed without bail at Rikers Island while awaiting trial for more than three years -- is accused of fatally shooting 55-year-old Ernesto Brownlee outside a bodega in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, on Jan. 29, 2018, the New York Daily News reported. Brownlee, an ex-convict who murdered two men in the 1980s, was shot three times in the chest, and police tracked down and arrested Buggs three days later.

In a different criminal contempt case, a judge sentenced Buggs to just 30 days, and that sentence was mistakenly listed as the final disposition in the murder case, sources told the Daily News. Jail staffers did not realize the error before releasing Buggs Monday. 

"We are aware of this incident and a full investigation into how this happened is underway," New York City Correction Department spokesman Peter Thorne said in a statement provided to Fox News. "Right now we are working with our law enforcement partners to return this‎ individual to custody."

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The Correction Intelligence Bureau was notified about the premature release and has been working with partner law enforcement agencies to return the individual to custody. An investigation is ongoing.