David Sweat, the escaped convict who was shot and captured in upstate New York after a three-week manhunt, was said to be in “critical but stable” condition at an Albany hospital on Monday.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who has repeatedly compared the plot to those which drive prison-escape movies, told MSNBC: “This was Cool Hand Luke meets Shawshank Redemption.”
On CNN, Cuomo said Sweat had with him a bag containing maps, tools, bug repellent and Pop–Tarts when he was shot twice by sergeant Jay Cook on Sunday afternoon, less than two miles from the Canadian border in Constable, New York.
Cuomo said Sweat was initially listed as being in stable condition but was downgraded to critical after being flown to Albany Medical Center on Sunday night.
Sweat, 35, was the subject of a search by more than 1,000 officers from a number of agencies after his partner, 49-year-old Richard Matt, was shot and killed in nearby Malone on Friday afternoon. But it was a lone state police sergeant who spotted Sweat walking on a rural road in Constable, confronted him and then gave chase.
At a Sunday press conference, New York state police superintendent Joseph D’Amico said: “At some point in the pursuit Cook realised Sweat was going to make it to a treeline and potentially disappear, so he shot him two times with his handgun.”
Matt, who was shot three times in the head by a Border Patrol agent on Friday, was carrying a 20-gauge shotgun when he died.
Sweat, who was dressed in camouflage, was unarmed. He was shot twice in the torso, authorities said.
Sweat was taken first to a local medical centre and then to the hospital in the state capital. On Sunday night, Dr Dennis McKenna said Sweat was being evaluated by a team of doctors including emergency medical physicians, trauma specialists and others who would determine whether surgery was necessary.
Sergeant Cook’s family said he was on roving patrol when he happened to spot the convict.
Judy Cook told the Press-Republican of Plattsburgh that her 47-year-old son “just happened to be in the right place at the right time”.
Cook, a 21-year veteran of the state police, is a native of the neighbouring town of Burke. His mother said he had been patrolling the area along the border for years.
At the Sunday press conference, Cuomo said he had “congratulated sergeant Cook on his excellent policing”, which he said involved a very courageous act that would make him a hero to his teenage daughters.
Sweat was serving life without parole in the killing of a sheriff’s deputy in Broome County in 2002. Matt was serving 25 years to life for the killing and dismembering of a former boss.
They escaped from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora on 6 June, cutting their way out of their cells with tools authorities say were provided by two prison workers who hid them in ground-up hamburger meat.
Clinton correction officer Gene Palmer, who is charged with promoting prison contraband, tampering with physical evidence and official misconduct, was due in court on Monday. His attorney has said he will plead not guilty.
Tailor shop worker Joyce Mitchell allegedly planned to act as a getaway driver before panicking and withdrawing from the plan. She is charged with smuggling hacksaw blades and other tools.
Having left bundled clothes in their beds to fool guards into thinking they were still sleeping, Matt and Sweat left a note for the authorities – saying “Have a nice day” – and escaped through a manhole cover into a Dannemora street. The search for them lasted 22 days and pursued a number of what turned out to be false leads.
Matt was killed after the driver of a camper van discovered that his vehicle had been shot at and searchers followed clues, including a bottle of grape gin that was found opened in a remote cabin.
On Sunday, authorities released details of his autopsy, such as insect bites, blisters and abrasions, which showed he had been living rough in the dense woodlands of upstate New York for weeks. Local reports suggested he had been drunk at the time of his death, but official toxicology results were not due for weeks.
At the Sunday press conference, superintendent D’Amico said the convicts appeared to have used pepper shakers to disguise their trail and throw police bloodhounds off their scent.
Governor Cuomo said “the long nightmare is over”, adding: “This was an extraordinary situation in many ways. If you were writing a movie plot they would say this was overdone.”
