Richard Matt Shot Dead, David Sweat Shot And Arrested
Murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat have both been accounted for as of tonight. Richard Matt was killed by police late Friday night, and David Sweat was shot and arrested today after several weeks on the run. Residents of Upstate New York and New York law enforcement are all resting a bit easier this evening.
Convict Richard Matt was shot three times in the head by a border patrol member of the tactical unit near Malone, New York. Matt was told to raise his hands and surrender, but he refused and was killed. He has surrounded by empty liquor bottles, but toxicology results are still pending.
Slain prison escapee Richard Matt was hit in head with 3 shots from semi-automatic weapon, New York State Police say. http://t.co/M0zDo4FokU
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) June 28, 2015
An earlier article in the Inquisitr claims that Richard Matt, an avid painter, traded art work for favors while serving time in prison. One of the prison workers that helped get tools for the escape in Matt’s hands, Gene Palmer, was said to be a fan of Matt’s artwork. Now that he is dead, it is thought that many collectors will seek out Richard Matt’s artwork, believing that it will continue to gain value.
A big thank you to all the law enforcement officers who helped stop escaped murderers #RichardMatt and #DavidSweat! pic.twitter.com/KeMOIMJ0VQ
— Rob Szczerba ?? (@RJSzczerba) June 28, 2015
Richard Matt and David Sweat had been on the run for three weeks since breaking out of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York. After killing Matt in Malone, authorities found DNA of both men on scraps of food less than a mile away from where Matt was shot. After the shooting, police regrouped in order to have a new plan of attack to round up Sweat, and end the three-week man hunt. Franklin County Sheriff Kevin Mulverhill was in charge of the over 1,300 officers on the hunt.
“Something’s going to give,” he said. “He’s going to make a mistake. We’re going to find him in this perimeter or we’re going get a decent lead. We’re not all involved in the perimeter area, so we’re not putting all our eggs in one basket. There are a number of leads outside the perimeter that are being investigated and those leads are being run through.”
Mulverhill was obviously correct, as Sweat is now in custody, while Richard Matt is in the morgue. On the death of Richard Matt and the capture of David Sweat, Governor Andrew Cuomo praised law enforcement tonight with a brief statement.
“The nightmare is finally over,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a news 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.”
Do you think there was any other way to capture Richard Matt?
