Convicted murderer and escaped inmate David Sweat was shot near the Canadian border Sunday by a New York state police officer, according to authorities.
“The nightmare is finally over,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a press conference late Sunday. “It took 22 days but … let’s give a big applause to the men and women of law enforcement who did a great job.”
Sweat was wounded but is alive and was taken into custody, according to the New York State Police. He was spotted by New York State Police Sgt. Jay Cook at about 3:20 p.m. in the town of Constable, less than six miles from the Canadian border, police said in a statement.
Cook thought Sweat looked suspicious and told him to “freeze,” and when he didn’t, Cook shot and injured him in twice in the torso, before he could run to the tree line, officials said. Sweat was then handcuffed, taken into custody, and placed on a gurney, the sources said.
He was transported to the Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone, New York, law enforcement sources said. His condition is unknown, according to police.
Related: Richard Matt died from three shots to head: Autopsy
New York’s Sen. Chuck Schumer told The Associated Press that no officers were hurt during the shooting and capture.
Cuomo said that, in addition to grilling Sweat on how the escape plan took shape, officials will be conducting an investigation into the prison.
“It was the first escape in 100 years, but one escape is one escape too many,” the governor said. “Anyone who we find who was culpable and guilty of cooperating in this escape will be fully prosecuted.
He added, “Today ends with good news. These were really dangerous, dangerous men, both Matt and Sweat. These were killers … We could not tolerate them being on the loose.”
Sweat was set to be transferred to Albany Medical Center — because it’s a “Level-1 trauma center” — later Sunday evening, according to a hospital spokesman.
The news of his capture comes more than three weeks after Sweat broke free from Clinton Correctional Facility, and two days after Richard Matt, 49, the man he escaped with, was killed by law enforcement.
Matt was shot dead in Malone, which is about 40 miles away from the prison and about six miles south from where Sweat was shot. New York state police said Friday that investigators believed the inmates were attempting to cross the Canadian border.
At the press conference with Cuomo, New York State Police Superintendent Joseph D’Amico said the same.
“Where Sweat was I can only assume he was going for the border, he was that close,” D’Amico said. “And we couldn’t be more happy that we apprehended him. It’s been a long three weeks.”
More than 1,300 law enforcement officers were combing Malone and Duane Sunday, increased from the 1,200 who were searching in the same area the day before. Officials had said that there was no evidence to suggest that Sweat was in the area, but nothing indicated otherwise.








