N.Y. escapee captured 2.4 km from border
Hospitalized after being shot by police officer
The second of two convicted murderers who escaped from a New York State jail nearly a month ago was shot about 2.4 km from the Canadian border Sunday and is now in custody.
David Sweat, 34, escaped Clinton Correctional Facility with Richard Matt, 49, more than three weeks ago and a police manhunt ensued on both sides of the border to recapture the two convicts.
A state police sergeant shot Sweat near Constable, N.Y. — roughly 63 kilometres from the Clinton prison — at 3:20 p.m. Sunday. Joseph D’Amico, superintendent of the New York State Police, said Sweat was probably heading for Canada.
“I can only assume he was heading for the Canadian border, that he was that close,” D’Amico said.
Sgt. Jay Cook was driving when he saw a man walking down the road with his back to him. He turned around and Cook recognized the man as Sweat. Police say the escaped convict was unarmed and began running for a tree line when Cook, a firearms instructor, shot him twice in the torso using his handgun.
D’Amico spoke at a press conference with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, where he revealed that Sweat is in stable condition at Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone, N.Y.
“The nightmare is finally over,” announced Cuomo, who said New Yorkers had to “live in fear knowing there were murderers in your backyard.
“The escapees have been dealt with. You couldn’t have a better ending.”
Sweat was serving a life sentence without parole for killing a Broome County, N.Y., sheriff ’s deputy in 2002.
About 1,300 officers were searching for Sweat on Sunday, the New York State Po- lice said. Aviation and canine units were also used, helping officers with the 57-square-kilometre search area around Malone and Duane, N.Y.
D’Amico said police found a camp thought to belong to both Sweat and Matt. Sweat’s DNA was found on the scene. The two were thought to be using pepper to conceal their scent from the canine units.
Sweat was difficult to capture, police said, because of his movement being concealed by the terrain.
“The terrain is so dense, you can’t see five feet in front of you,” D’Amico said. “In this case, if you stayed in the tree line, you wouldn’t have been able to see him from the road.”
Sweat’s capture came two days after Matt was shot dead by a border patrol agent in a wooded area nearly 48 kilometres from the prison.
Matt was found by police after a person towing a camper noticed a bullet hole in it. That led authorities to track Matt to a cabin in Malone that they said smelled of gunpowder. Matt was dis- covered when the New York State Police were searching the property and heard coughing.
Matt, who was serving 25 years to life for killing and dismembering his former boss, had a 20-gauge shotgun when police confronted him. He was shot three times with a semi-automatic weapon, according to the autopsy results released Sunday.
“They verbally challenged him, told him to put up his hands. And at that time, he was shot when he didn’t comply,” D’Amico said.
Sweat and Matt were able to escape Clinton Correctional Facility on June 6 by using power tools to saw through a steel wall and steel pipes. The two crawled through narrow tunnels before smashing a brick wall and climbing through a manhole outside the prison.
The two men were added to the U.S. Marshals Service’s 15 Most Wanted fugitives list within two weeks of their escape.
Two prison workers have been arrested and face charges in connection to the escape plan.
Joyce Mitchell, a tailoring instructor, was charged with a felony count of promoting prison contraband and a misdemeanour count of criminal facilitation. Authorities say Mitchell agreed to be the getaway driver for the two and had discussed killing her husband, Lyle Mitchell, as part of the plan. They say she backed out after feeling guilty for participating.
Prison guard Gene Palmer was also charged for first-degree promotion of prison contraband, two counts of tampering with evidence and official misconduct. Authorities say Palmer gave the inmates frozen hamburger meat that Mitchell used to stash tools that were to be used for the escape.
The nightmare is finally over. The escapees have been dealt with