New York: Governor Andrew Cuomo has confirmed that law enforcement officers have shot and killed the escaped inmate Richard Matt in Malone, New York.
Matt is one of two prisoners who broke out of a maximum security prison in New York three weeks ago. Police say they are in pursuit of the second escapee, David Sweat.
A tactical team “engaged Mr. Matt who was armed and Mr. Matt was shot and killed. We have no reason to believe that Mr. Sweat was not with Mr. Matt at the time. But we don’t have any confirming evidence that he was either,” Cuomo said.
New York State Police Superintendent Joseph D’Amico says, “Based on that we continue to search. We have a lot of people in the area, we have K9’s, and we have a decent perimeter set up and we’re searching for Sweat at this time.”
Dozens of law enforcement vehicles had converged on the area, 27 miles (43 km) northwest of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, where the convicted killers staged their elaborate escape and were discovered missing on June 6. The manhunt has involved as many as 1,100 law enforcement officers.
During their escape, Matt, 49, and Sweat, 35, cut through their cell walls and sneaked along the catwalk to a steam pipe, slithered through the pipe and popped out of a manhole outside the prison walls.