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David Sweat Shot And Captured Alive: What Brought 3 Week Manhunt To An End? [Video]

By Toni Matthews
Published on: 00:17 PST, Jun 29, 2015

New York prison escapee David Sweat was shot and captured, bringing to an end an intense three-week manhunt. The 35-year-old was taken into police custody nearly two miles from the Canadian border. Earlier reports suggested he and 49-year-old Richard Matt were near Pennsylvania — about 200 miles from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, N.Y.

In the end, David was taken alive only 40 miles away from the facility he and Richard broke out of on June 6. Although Sweat will live to tell the tale of his daring escape, Matt wasn’t so lucky. Nearly two days before David Sweat was apprehended, Richard Matt was killed by border police near a cabin they were searching. He had allegedly hidden in bushes nearby, but a cough gave him away.

The officers opened fire, and an autopsy report later revealed that Matt was shot three times in the head. He was killed 27 miles away from the Clinton Correctional Facility.

David Sweat was wounded by New York State Police Sgt. Jay Cook who CNN reports gave chase upon identifying the escapee. New York State Police Superintendent Joseph A. D’Amico explained the reason Cook shot Sweat to reporters.

“At some point, running across a field, he realized that Sweat was going to make it to a tree line, and possibly could have disappeared, and he fired two shots.”

David was hit twice in the torso.

He was taken into police custody in Constable, N.Y. at approximately 3:20 p.m. on Sunday, bringing to an end one of the most daunting manhunts in recent history. “The nightmare is finally over,” said New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Speaking at a press conference, Cuomo said that he wished that the terrifying scenario had not happened at all. “If you have to have it happen, this is how you want it to end.”

Although taken alive, David Sweat is currently listed as in “critical condition” at the Albany Medical Center.

Multiple interviews of prison staff at the facility he and Matt broke out of suggest that they were keen to learn about cabins and wooded areas surrounding the prison. Prior to their escape, the duo had the help of at least two accomplices — Prison tailor Joyce Mitchell and prison guard Gene Palmer.

Had it not been for the hard work of nearly 1300 police officers, it’s quite possible that David Sweat and Richard Matt would have escaped the United States successfully. Instead, their desperate escape came to a bloody end as both men were shot, and one fatally wounded.

Should David Sweat cooperate, his account about the prison break could have serious ramifications for anyone who aided his escape.

[Image Credit: New York State Police via Getty Images]

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