Police Shoot, Kill Escaped New York Convict

By Brian Naylor

Published June 26, 2015 at 2:02 PM CDT

Law enforcement personnel take cover Friday afternoon after cornering two escaped prisoners off of Route 30 in Malone, N.Y. One prisoner, Richard Matt, was shot dead by law enforcement. Authorities were still searching for escapee David Sweat late Friday night.

Updated 11 p.m. ET

Hundreds of officers are following leads on the possible whereabouts of escapee David Sweat, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday night, but it's unclear right now whether the two men were hiding out together.

A customs and border patrol team found Richard Matt following a report of a gunshot fired at a camping trailer, the Associated Press reports. Matt was discovered with a shotgun, State Police Superintendent Joseph D'Amico said at the news conference Friday, and was shot and killed after being "challenged" by law enforcement.

D'Amico told the AP that agents told Matt to put his hands up, and that he "was shot when he didn't comply."

Corrections officers walk through a field in Malone, N.Y., during a search for two escaped prisoners from Clinton Correctional Facility.

Updated at 5:11 p.m. ET

One of the two prisoners who escaped from an upstate New York prison earlier this month has been shot and killed by police.

Brian Mann of North Country Public Radio reports that Richard Matt was shot by law enforcement officers in Franklin County, near where police had found evidence from the two men.

David Sweat, who escaped along with Matt, is still at large.

Earlier, state police officials said they found "significant" items in a field and cabin in the town of Malone, N.Y. That's some 10 miles from the Canadian border and about 30 miles from the maximum security prison that Matt and David Sweat escaped from earlier this month.

State police Maj. Charles Guess said Friday that the escapees "dropped some items and left others behind." He added, "We're certain the evidence is conclusive."

"We have no reason to believe they're in Canada yet," said Guess, who did not provide details about the items or where they were found.

The Press-Republican interviewed an area resident named Donald Silver, who described police as "all over, an officer every 50 to 100 feet, right at my home."

According to the newspaper:

"Silver suspects the two escaped killers are using the camps to resupply themselves in a survival strategy that would help them evade capture during the day, especially if they hide out in one of the scores of cabins in the area.

" 'You know, there's so many camps here.

" 'In these camps, there's a lot of extra clothes; they'll probably have rain-wear stored inside that (the escapees) could take.' "

Sweat and Matt broke out of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, N.Y., on June 6. Since then, two prison employees have been arrested in connection with the inmates' escape.

Corrected: June 26, 2015 at 11:00 PM CDT

An earlier version of this story referred to New York's governor as Mario Cuomo. New York's current governor is Andrew Cuomo, Mario's son.