Authorities in Pennsylvania on Tuesday night were searching for two elementary school-age girls who officials said were taken by gunpoint by their father, a former police officer.
The girls "may be at special risk of harm or injury," a Pennsylvania State Police bulletin said.
State Police identified them as Aaminah Vicosa, 6, and Giana Vicosa, 7, and police said they were searching for Robert Vicosa, 42.
Joy Stewart, a spokeswoman for Maryland's Baltimore County Police Department, said Vicosa had worked as an officer until he was terminated in August. Officials did not detail why he was fired.
He is accused of committing a home-invasion robbery at gunpoint and holding a woman captive before grabbing the girls and fleeing in the woman's vehicle, according to authorities in York County, Pennsylvania.
The invasion happened in Windsor Township in York County, and a vehicle was later found in the nearby borough of Red Lion, the York Area Regional Police Department said in a statement.
"Vicosa's children are to believed to be in extreme danger," the statement reads. "Do not approach Vicosa as he is armed with at least one firearm."
