After more than three weeks of searching and two police confrontations with escaped killers, the manhunt in New York is finally over.
New York State Police released a statement announcing that David Sweat, the remaining escapee, was shot and captured on Sunday afternoon in upstate New York. The confrontation with the 35-year-old Sweat occurred at approximately 3:20pm near Constable, a town about five miles from the Canadian border. Police said a state trooper spotted a “suspicious man” walking down the roadway. The trooper reportedly ordered Sweat to stop, and opened fire when the inmate started running away.
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Franklin County Sheriff Kevin Mulverhill confirmed to the Associated Press that Sweat was shot, and that he was transported to a medical center in Malone, New York. Sweat’s condition was not immediately released. The Buffalo News cited a source as saying Sweat was bleeding heavily, and that his injuries are “life-threatening.”
New York Senator Chuck Schumer said law enforcement officials told him that Sweat was shot twice during the incident, and that he was coughing up blood when he was taken to the hospital, according to the AP.
Sweat’s capture comes two days after fellow escapee Richard Matt was shot and killed by police. Matt was carrying a shotgun during his encounter with police, and an autopsy report released Sunday found that he was killed by “severe skull fractures and brain injuries due to gunshot wounds to the head.” The coroner also said Matt had bug bites, blisters, and abrasions consistent with living in the woods for three weeks.
Related: In Photos: Inside the NY Prison Where Two Inmates Made a ‘Shawshank’-Style Escape
The mugshots of David Sweat, left, and Richard Matt, right. (Photo via New York State Police)
After Matt was discovered, law enforcement officials descended on the small town of Malone, New York, in hopes of capturing Sweat after more than three weeks on the run. The pair escaped together from the maximum-security Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, on June 6.
Sweat’s DNA was found in the same area where authorities shot and killed Matt on Friday, according to the Buffalo News. The DNA was the first indication that Sweat and Matt had not separated after making their escape. More than 1,000 law enforcement officers were involved in the manhunt.
The prisoners were able to use tools smuggled into their prison cells to cut through a steel wall and several pipes before emerging from a nearby manhole. Two prison workers — a guard and a supervisor at the prison’s tailor shop — have been arrested for allegedly helping the prisoners escape. Both Matt and Sweat were serving life sentences for murder at the time of their escape.
This is a breaking news story, please check back for updates.
