MALONE, N.Y. — One of two convicted murderers who staged a brazen escape from an upstate maximum-security prison three weeks ago was shot and killed by a border patrol agent in a wooded area 30 miles from the prison Friday, and the other was on the run, authorities said.
Authorities tracked down and killed Richard Matt after a person towing a camper reported that there was a bullet hole through the back of it, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state police said. David Sweat hasn’t been spotted, Cuomo said.
The shooting of the camper led officers to a cabin in Malone, where they discovered the smell of gunpowder, said Joseph D’Amico, superintendent of the New York State Police. There were indications someone had recently been there and fled out the back door, he said.
While searching the property, officers heard coughs and detected movement, and tactical teams came upon Matt in the woods.
“They verbally challenged him, told him to put up his hands. And at that time, he was shot when he didn’t comply,” D’Amico said.
A 20-gauge shotgun was found on Matt, who didn’t fire the weapon, D’Amico said. Matt was shot by a border patrol agent from Vermont, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said.
It was unclear if Matt and Sweat were together at the time of the shooting, authorities said. The pair escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility together early June 6. Cuomo called them “dangerous, dangerous men.”
Police blocked off roads in the area as officers hunted for Sweat on Friday. The search area for him was centered on Titusville Mountain State Forest in Malone and spanned 22 square miles, down from 75 square miles earlier this week, authorities said.
Authorities have followed up on more than 2,400 leads, Cuomo said.
Mitch Johnson said one of his best friends checked on his hunting cabin in Malone on Friday afternoon and noticed a liquor bottle that hadn’t been there the day before. Johnson said his friend, corrections officer Bob Willett, told him he immediately alerted police, about an hour before Matt was fatally shot.
Authorities sent a team to the camp area, and Willett and police later heard a gunshot in the woods, Johnson said.
Officers then flooded the woods, and then Willett heard more shots, Johnson said.
“He heard: ‘Pop pop pop pop pop pop pop,'” Johnson said.
State police Maj. Charles Guess said earlier Friday that the search area had shifted slightly northwest to Malone after investigators found evidence left behind by the escapees. Items were found Thursday at a cabin and Friday morning in a field, both in Malone, he said.
D’Amico cited numerous instances of break-ins and evidence left behind by the inmates in the area in the past week. On Wednesday, a screen was discovered cut out of a cabin, and a window was broken into. On Friday morning, search teams found a camp, where candy wrappers and other items were seized, and saw evidence that someone had lain down there.
