New York prison escapee David Sweat was shot but captured alive on Sunday after nearly three weeks on the run. He had been spotted in a town near the U.S.-Canadian border, about 10 miles from where companion Richard Matt was killed two days before.
“The nightmare is finally over,” announced New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who inserted himself in the escape news from Day 1. “It took 22 days but we can now confirm ... Mr. Matt is deceased and Mr. Sweat is in custody is in stable condition,”
Fox News reported him saying.
Sweat was walking down a road in Constable around 3:20 p.m. when state police Sergeant Jay Cook saw him and ordered him to stop. Sweat ran and, concerned he could disappear into the nearby trees, Cook shot Sweat twice in the torso.
“It was a very courageous act,” said Cuomo, praising Cook at a press conference later in the day. Cuomo even reported on Sweat's condition, saying he remains in “critical but stable condition” at Albany Medical Center,
according to The Associated Press.
The unarmed Sweat had a bag containing maps, tools, bug repellent and Pop Tarts when he was shot by Cook, less than two miles from the border. He sported camouflage pants and a hooded parka. He had blood on his face and was also coughing up blood.
The 35-year old Sweat escaped from Clinton Correctional Facility
in Dannemora with Matt, 49, on June 6. Authorities launched a manhunt consisting of 1,200 law enforcement personnel in search of the two convicted murderers.
Matt was carrying a shotgun when he was shot in the head at least twice on Friday near Malone, about 30 miles from the prison.
“This was an unprecedented coming together of law enforcement on every level,” said Cuomo. "It was the first escape in 100 years, but one escape is one escape too many."
Sweat will face escape and burglary charges on top of his life sentence for killing a sheriff's officer in 2002. Matt, who border patrol shot dead on Friday near Malone, had been serving a 25-year sentence for killing and dismembering his former boss.
The convicts made the U.S. Marshals Service’s 15 Most Wanted Fugitives list during their three-week escape. The marshals offered a $25,000 reward for each prisoner while the state of New York offered $50,000 for information on the two.
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