Second New York prison escapee shot, hospitalised

David Sweat, one of two New York state inmates who escaped from prison three weeks ago, was rushed to a local hospital yesterday after being shot by police near the Canadian border, two days after his accomplice was killed, according to media reports.

Sweat, 35, has been on the run since he and fellow inmate Richard Matt were found missing from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, on June 6. Sweat was shot and taken into custody in the town of Constable, New York, 37km north of Duane, where his accomplice was shot and killed on Friday, the Buffalo News reported. Constable is 8km south of New York’s border with the Canadian province of Quebec.

Sweat was bleeding badly from “life-threatening” wounds, the newspaper said.