David Sweat: Convict in critical condition after dramatic weeks-long manhunt

Sweat was captured near the Canadian border

(AP Images)

For all the guile required in the sensational prison breakout earlier this month, it ultimately proved pointless as one of the escaped convicts is dead and the other is listed in critical condition at a New York hospital.

David Sweat, one of the convicts who grabbed national attention for a daring prison break at Clinton Correctional Facility, was shot by a law enforcement officer who spotted him on the side of a road this weekend in Constable, New York, a small town two miles south of the Canadian border, The Guardian reported.

Sweat’s partner in escape, Richard Matt, was killed by officers on Friday.

At a press conference on Sunday, New York’s police superintendent Joseph D’Amico said, “At some point in the pursuit, (Sergeant Jay) Cook realized Sweat was going to make it to a treeline and potentially disappear, so he shot him two times with his handgun.”

Sweat was caught wearing camouflage and carrying a bag holding maps, tools, bug repellent and Pop–Tarts. He was unarmed. Matt was carrying a 20-gauge shotgun when he was killed.

Initially listed in stable condition, Sweat was downgraded to critical and has been airlifted to Albany Medical Center.

Matt and Sweat had been on the lam since they broke out of prison on 6 June, using tools to cut their way out of Clinton prison. Two prison workers have been arrested and charged with providing the tools to the inmates, allegedly hiding them in ground beef.

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