Just 48 hours after 49-year-old inmate Richard Matt was shot dead by a Border Patrol in upstate New York, the other and remaining escapee, David Sweat, has also been cornered in the same woodlands and is now in critical condition after being shot twice by authorities. The New York Prison escape manhunt saga has finally come to an end, theguardian.com reports.
"The nightmare is finally over. After 22 days we can confirm that Mr Matt is deceased and the other escapee Mr Sweat is in custody," says New York state governor Andrew Cuomo in a Sunday evening press conference.
The first captured prisoner, Richard Matt, was fatally shot by a Border Patrol agent Friday after a nearly three-week manhunt, dailymail.co.uk reports. He was reportedly drunk, sick, and likely miserable when police tracked him down.
Police pieced together Matt's final movements and were able to successfully plot a route based on a sequence of hunting cabins, in which the convicted murderer left a trail of DNA on candy wrappers, bottles, sheets, and underwear. He was finally gunned down after he carjacked a camper van of which the driver was able to call 911. Within minutes, only one prisoner escapee was alive.
In the samer report by The Guardian, New York state police released an outline of the details Sweat's capture in a press statement saying: "At approximately 3.20pm ... Sergeant Jay Cook of the New York state police spotted a suspicious man walking down a roadway in the town of Constable."
"Sergeant Cook shot and injured Clinton Correctional Facility escapee David Sweat. Sweat was taken into police custody alive, then taken to a local hospital for treatment of his injuries."
The eventual capture was preceded by a standoff between Cook and Sweat; with the officer reportedly all by himself that time.
"At some point in the pursuit Cook realised Sweat was going to make it to a treeline and potentially disappear," D'Amico said, "so he shot him two times with his handgun."
Sweat was taken to Albany Hospital where a trauma unit was on standby for assessment and evaluation of the need for a surgery.
The remaining prisoner will be facing charges of escape, burglary, and other counts according to a prosecutor.
