Sweat, 35, serving life without parole for the 2002 murder of a sheriff’s deputy, escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility early this month. On Sunday he was two miles from the Canadian border when he was spotted and shot in a confrontation near the town of Constable.
Sweat was unarmed but attempted to flee and was shot. Sgt. Jay Cook, on patrol on his own, saw Sweat walking down a road. He gave a command but Sweat did not comply; as Sweat ran toward a group of trees the officer feared he was about to lose sight of him and made the decision to shoot. Sweat was hit twice.
Franklin County Sheriff Kevin Mulverhill said Sweat was taken to Albany Medical Center in the town of Malone, N.Y. and is in critical condition. No law enforcement officers were injured apprehending Sweat.
This comes two days after the man he escaped with, Richard Matt, 48, was shot and killed by officers. Matt shot at a camper trailer being towed and the owner alerted police, who tracked the wanted man. Reports say Matt refused to surrender and was hit three times in the head and died on scene. He’d been jailed for 25 years to life for killing and dismembering his boss; Matt had also killed a man in Mexico.
It is believed that both Matt and Sweat had found weapons and clothing, likely even food, from empty cabins in the area. When shot, Matt was said to be well-fed, clean and dressed for the weather. He was armed.
On June 6, the two killers had used power tools to cut their way through a steel cell wall and to cut away numerous steel pipes. They were then able to crawl out of a manhole at the Clinton facility in Dannemora to their freedom. Two employees of the prison, Joyce Mitchell and Gene Palmer, have been arrested in connection with the escape.
Authorities believe Mitchell may have had a relationship with one or both of the prisoners and that she had agreed to serve as their driver in the escape, but failed to turn up. They also believe she may have discussed the possibility of the men killing her husband, Lyle Mitchell.
On June 12, Joyce Mitchell pleaded not guilty to an array of charges.
