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One of the convicted murderers who escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility has been shot, and police continue to look for his fellow escapee.
The two men, Richard Matt and David Sweat, had been on the loose for nearly three weeks after their high profile escape from the prison in Dannemora, New York on Saturday, June 6th. New York State Police have followed their path north, most recently thanks to two break-ins on Saturday, June 20th and Wednesday, June 24th where police identified property left at the scene.
Just before 2 p.m. on Friday afternoon, a civilian in the town of Duane reported that a gunshot had been fired at his camping trailer. Duane is a small town in northern New York State, near the Canadian border to Quebec. The police realized the shooting had probably been eight miles before, and they sent officers to the area. State Police found a cabin with the smell of gunpowder inside, and a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol tactical team helicoptered into the scene.
Supt Joseph D'Amico during the media briefing for Matt's death. (Photo Credit: Governor Andrew Cuomo Flickr)
It was this team that came upon Matt. The officer verbally challenged him and told him to put up his hands. Matt was shot and killed when he didn’t comply. Superintendent Joseph D’Amico couldn’t say more about the shooting, other than no shots were fired by Matt at the scene.
Police removed a 20 gage shotgun from Matt’s body. A shotgun with a similar description was believed to be taken in one of the recent break-ins related to the two escapees.
“You never want to see anyone lose their life,” said Governor Andrew Cuomo. “But, I would remind people that Mr. Matt was an escaped murderer from a state prison.”
Police are carefully searching in the vicinity for Sweat, saying that they have no reason to believe he was not with Matt, though no confirming evidence that he was. Evidence from last Saturday’s burglary indicated that the two were together, though no evidence was found of Sweat in the Wednesday break and enter.
David Sweat (left) and Richard Matt (right). (Photo Credit: New York State Police Handout)
Though the escaped inmates were moving north, Supt D'Amico said when asked that State Police have no positive evidence that the two were headed to Canada. However, RCMP and police in Quebec have been involved and vigilant.
Both men were considered dangerous, with Matt convicted of the murder of his boss and another person in Mexico and Sweat convicted of killing a sheriff’s deputy.
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