NEW YORK MANHUNT:
Officers still on hunt for second prisoner
One escaped prisoner is dead; second remains on the run.
One of two convicted murderers who staged a brazen escape from an upstate maximum-security prison three weeks ago was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent in a wooded area about 30 miles from the prison on Friday, and the other is on the run, authorities said.
Authorities tracked down and killed Richard Matt after a person towing a camper saw that there was a bullet hole through the back of it, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state police said at a news conference. David Sweat hasn’t been spotted, Cuomo said.
The shooting of the camper led officers to a cabin Friday in Malone, where they discovered the smell of gunpowder, said Joseph D’Amico, superintendent of New York State Police. There were indications someone had recently been there, he said.
While searching the property, officers heard coughs and detected movement, and tactical teams came upon Matt in the woods.
“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.
A 20-gauge shotgun was found on Matt, who didn’t fire. the weapon, D’Amico said. Matt was shot by a Border Patrol agent from Vermont, officials said.
It wasn’t clear if Matt and Sweat were together at the time of the shooting, authorities said. The pair escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility together early June 6.
Police blocked off roads in the area as officers hunted for Sweat on Friday. The search area for him was centered on Titusville Mountain State Forest in Malone and spanned 22 square miles.
D’Amico cited instances of break-ins and evidence left behind by the inmates in the area in the last week. On Wednesday, a screen was discovered cut out of a cabin and a window was broken into. Friday morning, searchers found a camp, where candy wrappers and other items were seized, and saw evidence that someone had laid down.
Matt and Sweat used power tools to saw through a steel cell wall and pipes, bashed a hole through a brick wall, squirmed through pipes and emerged from a manhole outside the prison.
Sweat was serving a sentence of life without parole in the killing of a sheriff ’s deputy in 2002. Matt was serving 25 years to life for the killing and dismembering of his former boss.
Prosecutors said Joyce Mitchell, a prison tailoring shop instructor, had agreed to be their getaway driver but backed out.
Mitchell pleaded not guilty June 15 to charges including felony promoting prison contraband, which authorities said included hacksaw blades and chisels.
On Wednesday, authorities charged Clinton correction officer Gene Palmer with promoting prison contraband, tampering with physical evidence and official misconduct. Officials said he gave the two prisoners the frozen hamburger meat Mitchell had used to hide the tools she smuggled to Sweat and Matt.