MALONE, N.Y.–Richard Matt, one of two escaped murderers from an upstate New York prison, was fatally shot by officers on Friday after a nearly three-week manhunt.
“Matt has been shot, he’s down,” Lenny DePaul, a former U.S. Marshal told CNN.
Matt shot at a driver in a camper near Malone, New York, and the driver called 911. When officers arrived, gunfire erupted and Matt was shot dead.
Officers are currently pursuing fugitive David Sweat, a law enforcement source briefed on the investigation said Friday, and though they do not have eyes on him they seemed to be closing in on him Friday night, a law enforcement official told CNN.
“They stuck together,” DePaul said.”They needed each other.”
Authorities believe Sweat has been contained within a perimeter and no shots have been fired as of 8:15 p.m. Friday, a law enforcement source briefed on the investigation said.
While “several leads” were being pursued on Sweat’s whereabouts, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said there was nothing to confirm his location as of Friday night.
The shooting occurred on a day that the New York State Police reported that Matt and Sweat may be headed to Canada.
About 3:45 p.m., a law enforcement officer saw a man in a wooded area in Malone, the state police said. A man believed to be Matt was shot and killed but a positive identification is pending, according to state police.
Matt, whose 49th birthday was Thursday, held a shotgun as he approached an officer and was shot by a border patrol tactical team, law enforcement sources said.
Neighbors heard gunfire break out, and two sets of footprints were found in the area, the law enforcement officials said. The second set is believed to belong to Sweat.
The search for Sweat unfolded around Elephant Head, northwest of Lake Titus and about 10 miles from Malone, according to Clinton County Sheriff David Favro.
A reported burglary led police to a cabin Thursday in the town of Malone, New York, State Police spokesman Beau Duffy told CNN.
Conclusive evidence was found in the cabin, which is being tested, he added.
“There has been no definitive credible sighting based on a physical description to pair with the evidence, but we’re certain that the evidence is conclusive,” State Police Maj. Charles Guess said Friday at a news conference.
Stay with Fox CT as the story develops.
