UPDATE — David Sweat caught:
Original story below.
Escaped cop killer David Sweat was reported to be cornered by heavily armed law enforcement officers just hours after fellow fugitive Richard Matt was shot dead about 20 miles from the Canadian border.
Sweat initially ran off after Matt was gunned down near a cabin where both men were thought to be hiding. Officers told the New York Times they “heard him running” from the scene, and fired another round of bullets but they missed.
Officers said on Friday night they believe Sweat was inside a perimeter set up around the area, but there had not been any sightings. He was said to be armed and extremely dangerous.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Sweat was “very dangerous.”
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Matt Was Shot in Malone, New York
According to NBC New York, Matt was gunned down after refusing to surrender to Border Protection officers who tracked him down to a remote cabin and chased him into the woods.
“Matt has been shot, he’s down,” Lenny DePaul, a former U.S. Marshal told CNN. DePaul said he believes the shooting occurred in Malone, New York. “They stuck together,” he said.”They needed each other.”
Matt apparently shot at a driver towing a camper driving along Route 30 near Malone, a federal law enforcement source said. Authorities first got a call about 1.30 pm on Friday from the motorist who said he’d been shot at.
2. They Were Heading For Canada
New York State Police officer Maj. Charles Guess (Getty)
Major Charles Guess (pictured above), the trooper leading the hunt said on Friday that a “picket line” of officers had been set up on the border to prevent the two men from fleeing the country.
“We have no reason to believe they are in Canada yet,” Guess was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail. “We are operating under the premise that they are still in New York State at this point.”
He added that he had “a high degree of confidence” in his statement that they were planning to leave the U.S. before Matt’s death
3. They Were Hiding in a Cabin Owned by Correctional Officers
Officers search empty cabin for fugitives (Getty)
A reported burglary led police to a cabin on Thursday in the town of Malone, State Police spokesman Beau Duffy told CNN. Malone is about 14 miles northwest of Mountain View, where another cabin was burglarized.
Search crews also found evidence left behind by Sweat and Matt at a cabin about 30 miles west from the Clinton Correctional Facility, state police said.
The evidence, which included a jar of peanut butter, prison underwear and bloody clothing, was tied to the two men through DNA, the Plattsburgh Press-Republican reports.
The cabin in remote Owl’s Head, in Franklin County, New York, is owned by a group of New York corrections officers, the New York Daily News reports. . The officers are not suspected of any wrongdoing, as it appears to just be a coincidence that they own the hunting cabin.
4. Sweat Was Serving Life Without Parole For Killing a Cop
David Sweat, 35, was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the 2002 murder of a sheriff’s deputy. Sweat pleaded guilty in the deadly shooting of Broome County Deputy Sheriff Kevin Tarsia in Kirkwood, New York, in 2003, taking a deal to avoid the death penalty, according to Binghamton’s WBNG.
After he was sentenced in 2003, Sweat was moved to the Clinton Correctional Facility, where he was held until his escape. He had previously served time in prison for felony attempted burglary.
Authorities were proceeding cautiously, keenly aware that Sweat has already killed a deputy.
“You take every precaution because you know they have nothing to fear,” a source told the Buffalo News.
5. More Than 1,000 Law Enforcement Officers Were Involved in The Hunt
Police hunt for Sweat (Getty)
Sweat, who was believed to be armed, was being pursued by law enforcement with canine units. A line of officers pushed through a targeted wooded area, heading toward a road, according to Buffalo News.
In anticipation of a long night, police were seen bringing dozens of floodlights to the area around Lake Titus shortly before 6pm.
The breakthrough comes three weeks after the dramatic escape from the Clinton Correction Facility in Dannemora on June 6 – around 47 miles from Lake Titus.