David Sweat.
Escaped killer David Sweat has been caught in Constable, New York, after a three-week manhunt, state police say.
The Plattsburgh Press-Republican reports that Sweat was shot and seriously wounded.
The 35-year-old Sweat, who was serving a life sentence without parole for killing a New York sheriff’s deputy, was shot Sunday afternoon by a state trooper, the New York Times reports.
Sweat and Richard Matt escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York on June 6. Matt was shot and killed by police on Friday.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Sweat Was Shot After Being Spotted by a State Police Sergeant
#DavidSweat bloodied face after shot by State Trooper on patrol. Official tells CNN he was unarmed. #PrisonBreakNY http://t.co/oY3pZRVYr2
Sweat was spotted walking down a road by a state police sergeant, the New York Times reports.
The sergeant, who is a firearms instructor, said Sweat was walking toward him and then broke into a run when the officer ordered him to stop. The sergeant then opened fire, a source told the Times.
Police have not yet said if Sweat was armed or fired any shots at the officer.
A source told the Buffalo News that Sweat was shot twice in the back as he ran away.
Sweat was shot about 6 miles away from Monroe, where Matt was killed two days ago and was likely headed toward Canada. Constable is three miles south of the border.
“He was headed in the right direction,” Clinton County Sheriff David Favro told the Press-Republican. “Once Matt got shot, looks like the adrenaline got going, and he moved fast.”
Constable is about 40 miles northwest of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York.
2. He Has Been Taken to a Hospital
Ambulance rushes by accompanied by troopers. #DavidSweat #PrisonBreakNY pic.twitter.com/uHViEISAMg
— Kerry Longobucco (@KerryWBNG) June 28, 2015
Sweat was taken, alive, to the Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone, New York, where he was seen on a stretcher with an IV and surrounded by dozens of police officers, the Press-Republican reports.
According to emergency radio dispatches posted by the Press-Republican, police called for EMS at about 3:15 p.m.
Sweat was shot near the town of Constable, New York, which is near the Canadian border. Authorities had previously said Sweat and Matt had been heading toward Canada before they were encircled by police.
3. Fellow Escapee Richard Matt Was Shot in the Head During a Confrontation With Police
Richard Matt, the other inmate who escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility, was shot Friday after refusing to surrender to officers at a remote cabin. The officers opened fire after he was chased into the woods. Matt was armed with a shotgun when he was shot.
This exclusive photo captured by a trail camera showed the two escaped convicts holding a gun. http://t.co/3y7soGT5Ab http://t.co/TqlsFYGAy9
Results of an autopsy released on Sunday found that Matt was shot three times in the head.
Dr. Michael Sikirica found the cause of death to be “severe skull fractures and brain injuries due to gunshot wounds to the head,” state police said. Sikirica also found bug bites on Matt’s lower extremities, blisters and cuts “consistent with living in the woods for three weeks.”
The investigation into the shooting is ongoing, but it appears the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Tactical Unit officer fired several rounds at Matt from a semi-automatic weapon.
The two men had stuck together after the escape, and police were able to corner Sweat into a perimeter after Matt was killed. Matt apparently shot a driver towing a camper along Route 30 near Malone Friday afternoon in an attempted carjacking.
4. More Than 1,300 Police Officers Were Searching for Sweat
Police search a wooded area for Sweat on Sunday. (Getty)
Police said Sunday they increased the number of state, local and federal police officers searching for Sweat to more than 1,300 as heavy rain fell in the upstate New York area and unseasonably cold weather moved in.
The officers trapped Sweat in a 22-square-mile area between the towns of Malone and Duane, New York, the New York Times reported.
5. Two Prison Employees Have Been Charged in Connection With the Case
Officers search a house in Owls Head, New York. (Getty)
The investigation into the killers’ escape from the prison has led to the arrest of two prison employees, tailor shop supervisor Joyce Mitchell and correctional officer Gene Palmer.
Both have been charged with helping the prisoners escape by bringing them contraband. Mitchell is accused of smuggling tools inside frozen meat, which she then gave to Palmer, who delivered it to the two inmates. Palmer denies knowing what was inside the package.
Mitchell was supposed to pick up the two men after their escape, but backed out, leaving the two men stranded in a desolate, heavily wooded area. They apparently hid out for several days in a cabin coincidentally owned by New York corrections officers, and then fled as police closed in, leading to the final showdowns with officers this weekend.
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