Source: David Sweat was shot in the back as he fled from trooper

An ambulance, believed to have transported convicted murderer David Sweat is parked outside Alice Hyde Medical Center on June 28, 2015 in Malone, New York. (Getty Images)Buffalo News – by Maki Becker

MALONE – The manhunt is over.

David Sweat, who escaped from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, 23 days ago with Richard Matt, was shot by a state trooper in the Town of Constable Sunday afternoon, roughly three miles from the Canadian border.  

At about 3:20 p.m., two state troopers based on a roving patrol in Constable, saw Sweat walking along a road next to a field between Route 30, a main north-south road in the area that leads to Canada, a law enforcement source told The Buffalo News.

The troopers challenged Sweat who tried to run away. One of the troopers, a sergeant, opened fire, shooting him twice in the back, the source said.

Sweat was seen bleeding badly, according to the source who called his wounds “life-threatening.”

He was taken to a hospital in Malone and was undergoing surgery as of about 4:30 p.m.

State police said in a statement released just after 5: p.m. that his condition as “unknown” at this time.

CNN showed a photo taken from where Sweat was captured. He appears to be wearing hunting camouflage and a dark coat and there are bug bites and blood spots all over his head. Two people wearing rubber gloves are holding him down.

“We feel so relieved,” said Audra Buchanan, 39, who lives on Coveytown Road, near where Sweat was shot at about 3 p.m. “I’m so happy. My daughter can go outside and play. She’s eight.”

Buchanan was at home watching TV with her daughter when she heard sirens.

State police and border patrols cars raced by, along with a flat bed truck.

At first, she thought it might be an accident.

Then she saw another 20 police cars coming up her road and she ran to lock her doors and windows. She listed on a scanner and heard that Sweat had been shot.

“That’s so scary,” she said when she realized how close she had been to Sweat. “It’s so unnerving that there was a convicted murdered with no regard for life here.”

The area where Sweat was shot in Constable is about 12 miles due north from where Matt was shot dead near Lake Titus by a member of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection tactical team Friday afternoon. It is also about three miles from the Canadian border. Investigators had speculated the pair may have been trying to get to Canada.

More than 1,300 federal, state and local officers had been hunting for Sweat in the dense woods of Franklin County in the northern Adirondack Mountains.

Groups of officers on tactical teams, known as CERT teams, were seen cheering as they emerged from the woods near the shooting scene, the Albany Times-Union reported.

Earlier Sunday, law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation said David Sweat’s DNA was found on a pepper shaker in an area about a mile away from where Matt was shot.

But it had been unclear as to whether Sweat was near Matt when a U.S. Customs and Border Protection tactical team opened fire on him with a semi-automatic weapon and shot him three times in the head.

The pepper shaker was found in an area where authorities believe Matt and Sweat were resting, the source said.

The pepper wasn’t for seasoning food, the law enforcement source said. Pepper is often used by people on the run trying to throw off K9 units. Ralph “Bucky” Phillips, who escaped from the Erie County Correctional Facility in Alden, used the same tactic when he was on the run in 2006.

The new DNA evidence was the best indicator that Sweat could still be in the dense woods of Franklin County, in the northern Adirondack Mountains.

As nearly two days passed since Matt was killed, speculation had grown that Sweat had somehow eluded the hundreds of law officers searching for him.

The last time there was any confirmation of Sweat’s whereabouts came last weekend when DNA tests confirmed both men had been at an Owls Head hunting camp reported burglarized on Saturday. Matt’s DNA turned up at another burglarized cabin in the area Wednesday, but they was no evidence – either forensic or sightings – of Sweat.

That was until the tests on the DNA from the campsite came back Friday.

Also Sunday, autopsy results were released that showed Matt’s three weeks on the run were grueling – and that he met a quick and bloody end.

“Dr. Michael Sikirica determined the cause of death to be severe skull fractures and brain injuries due to gunshot wounds to the head,” a statement from State Police about the autopsy results said.

Matt was shot three times by a Vermont-based U.S. Customs and Border Protection Tactical Unit member who discharged several rounds from a semi-automatic weapon, officials said.

Also, the autopsy, conducted Saturday at Albany Medical Center, revealed that Matt probably spent most of the last three weeks in the outdoors.

He was shot about 40 miles west of Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, from which he and Sweat escaped through the pipes June 6.

Bug bites were found on Matt’s lower extremities, along with “blisters and minor abrasions consistent with living in the woods for three weeks,” the statement read.

The Buffalo News reported Sunday that Matt was also ill and drunk when he was shot. A law enforcement source revealed that soiled underwear was found Wednesday in a burglarized cabin. The DNA on the underwear was matched to Matt and indicated he was sick, possibly from drinking bad water or eating spoiled food. The source also said Matt’s body had a strong odor of alcohol. The owner of a cabin that had been burglarized found empty booze bottles.

email: mbecker@buffnews.com

rmccarthy@buffnews.com

http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?avis=BN&date=20150628&category=CITYANDREGION&lopenr=150629104&Ref=AR&profile=1047

41 thoughts on “Source: David Sweat was shot in the back as he fled from trooper

  1. Wow, the pic that was at the top of this article, and on the original site, just changed as I was watching. It was originally a pic of a bunch of fat LEOs and one fat civilian in blue sweats looking like dodos standing around a shirtless man in camo pants on the ground, who was pushed up into a sitting position and “bleeding” from the front of his chest.

      1. Thank you for the original picture, there is an injury to the head bleeding seems to be originating from above the ear must be a small wound. Or he was already dead when that injury took place not enough blood for a head injury. Just a small line down the right cheek, easy to miss with the blood from the chest wound.

        1. Mark, I’m going to disagree with you on this one. If you take a look at this picture, https://ixquick-proxy.com/do/spg/show_picture.pl?l=english&rais=https%3A%2F%2Fs3-eu5.ixquick.com%2Fcgi-bin%2Fserveimage%3Furl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Flocaltvwiti.files.wordpress.com%2F2015%2F06%2Fdavid-sweat1.jpg%26sp%3Df5c4c29c7dbe16bc948f59f322460e60, you’ll see that there’s no injury to the right side of the head, and if you look at this picture, https://tribwpix.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/sweat.jpeg, you’ll see that the individual is quite alive, there’s body tone and he’s able to hold up his legs bent at the knee. It’s also remarkable that as bloody appearing as his shirt is in the sweat.jpeg, there’s no blood smearing over the shirtless torso in the gannett jpg.

  2. ““We feel so relieved,” said Audra Buchanan, 39, who lives on Coveytown Road, near where Sweat was shot at about 3 p.m. “I’m so happy. My daughter can go outside and play. She’s eight.””

    Wow… I bet they had her ready for this interview just for this moment.

    Unfrigginbelievable…..

  3. “More than 1,300 federal, state and local officers had been hunting for Sweat”

    More satan mason power numerology: 1300 = 13 (lucky number) x 100

    And it still didn’t work for them. Haha.

  4. 3 week old haircut? I think not. Must’ve used a razor too. Trimmed burns. More DNA on the razor than a pepper shaker. BS

    1. Yep. Short hair and recently shaved. Must of had power in one of those hunting shacks they supposedly broke into so he could use the hair clippers everyone keeps out in the woods along with a razor.

      Here is closer picture of him, squared off sideburns and short hair.

      https://ixquick-proxy.com/do/spg/show_picture.pl?l=english&rais=https%3A%2F%2Fs3-eu5.ixquick.com%2Fcgi-bin%2Fserveimage%3Furl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Flocaltvwiti.files.wordpress.com%2F2015%2F06%2Fdavid-sweat1.jpg%26sp%3Df5c4c29c7dbe16bc948f59f322460e60

      He doesn’t look to be in that much pain for just being shot twice in the back.

      I don’t believe any of this story.

      1. “He doesn’t look to be in that much pain for just being shot twice in the back.”

        Yea that thought had crossed my mind, too.

  5. Although he looks pale, I don’t see any bullet holes or wounds in his back or blood anywhere unless it was all on his shirt. You’d think blood would be pouring from that bullet hole or they would be shown holding lots of gauze on him in order to keep pressure on the wound from leaking. Maybe I’m just not seeing it.

      1. Hi Angel 🙂 Boy, he sure is dressed like an “insurgent” with all the camo on. Part of the training for the pig’s minds that identifies patriots as “the enemy”. Psyop for the pigs is one of the effects of this op.

  6. They shot him in the back twice, thank god for that! Otherwise, he may have reeked havoc upon Canada! We can’t have that! He was a fugitive from injustice, what do you expect? How did Lee Harvey Oswald’s trial come out? Well, there you go.

        1. Close enough for me and me too! Canadian Bacon is a satire involving Canadian/American relations and a false International incident. Like Wag the Dog but not as deep.

  7. I know every time I’m a hunted fugitive I walk calmly down the road, in plain view of everybody and just, well, keep my fingers crossed. It works every time. I don’t understand why it didn’t work for this guy.
    Oh I know, it must have been that sign he was carrying that said “ESCAPED FUGITIVE” in big bold letters. That must be where he went wrong.
    There’s a lesson there somewhere…maybe it’s something like “when you pull off a magical escape from prison that Harry Houdini or David Copperfield would be proud of, best to leave your escaped fugitive sign in your prison cell.”

  8. They had to end this story before july 4th or new york might of lost tourism dollars.

    “It’s ok everybody…come on out of your houses, go spend your money celibrating the holiday!”

    Forget about that police state lock-down, it’s time to celebrate your freedom!

  9. Cuomo speaks of it being like a bad movie script.
    The NY State Police statement begins at the 8:30 mark.

    1. LOL Angel. Well at least Queermo admitted it. This is exactly why somebody invented the word “unbelievable” just for special occasions like this.

    2. HAHAHA Angel!!!! I choked. Thanks 🙂 Whole lot of blinking going on during his statement. Wonder if he’s lying? Pffft jk If you believe this garbage, you’re a jacka$$

      1. 😉
        Wanted y’all to see it. 😀

        Have you seen the reports about Matt’s autopsy results?

        Wish I could find the story that I saw this morning. This one is close to the one I read:

        “Authorities had expressed hope that Sweat would succumb to the stress of little sleep, scant food and biting bugs of life on the run.
        But a coroner who attended Matt’s autopsy told The Associated Press that Sweat’s fellow escapee had been eating and drinking well during his time on the run and was protected from the elements by heavy boots, camouflage pants and a dark green jacket.
        Matt may have even showered and shaved at some point, according to Franklin County Coroner Brian Langdon, who was present for the autopsy.
        ‘He looked clean and well-kept,’ Langdon said. ‘He wasn’t sleeping in any cave or anything like that for three weeks, that’s for sure.’ ”
        http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/06/28/autopsy-richard-matt-shot-times-head/29436619/

        1. A good laugh from good folks is priceless, Angel. Thank you. I wanted to thank you again for kind words the other eve. Very thoughtful and very impacting in a positive way. They were much appreciated and helpful in a difficult time. FTTWR holds good people and you’re a shining example.

          1. Wow! Thank you. That is such a beautiful thing to say. I truly appreciate it. 🙂 😀
            Trenchers are Family. 🙂

    3. Don’t walk away from us bitch! We’ll shoot you in the back like the cowards we truly are! Now, step aside! “We have apprehended the perpetrator and cornered the weasel in a good enough position to plug him in the back a couple times just for good measure.” He is currently receiving life saving torture to keep him alive long enough to kill him after the trial.

      1. Dammit, this comment sticks out like a sore thumb in the middle of a nice thread. I hate that when that happens. All apologies Angel-NYC.

  10. Our mainstream media (and fake left msnbc & fake right fox) is so untrustworthy anymore, you cannot believe a word they say. The way I view a story like this is that I don’t believe it, even if it’s true, because right now the only thing telling me it’s true is the mainstream media. Besides that, I don’t have one single fact or evidence proving it to me…except to blindly believe what they’re telling me. And since they LIE all the time, I don’t believe it. Maybe it’s true, but I just don’t believe anything they say anymore. If they’d stop LYING, maybe I’d start taking their evidence-free word for things.

    But as of right now, they are proven big time liars and cannot be believed under any circumstances. Why would you believe some things they say, and not other things they say?

    Sadly, many people believe EVERY SINGLE THING they say.

  11. “Sweat was seen bleeding badly, according to the source who called his wounds “life-threatening.”

    Seriously doubt he’ll ‘pull through’. Too much bullsh#t already shoveled to have a live person screw things up.

    They really don’t give a damn about production quality anymore, apparently.

      1. Well then, I guess all HIS faithful viewers will believe this is real.

        Extra crumbs of ‘credibility’ thrown in the mix.

        1. Could you imagine looking back and seeing “Dog the crack smoker” chasing your ass? Dog and his rainbow painted mace bottle?

          God help us.

          1. I had a friend in L.A. who used to watch that clown when I was visiting sometimes. It simply amazes me the level of stupidity that hypnotizes the sheeple these days.

    1. “Sweat was seen bleeding badly, according to the source who called his wounds “life-threatening.”

      http://www.bild.de/news/ausland/new-york/ausbrecher-angeschossen-und-gefasst-41556578.bild.html

      Does this look like a man with life threatening injuries? They don’t look to worried to me. Maybe a couple airsoft pellets to the back so he knew it was time to give up? I haven’t seen any photos of Sweat from the back showing the bullet wounds yet either.

  12. So which story are we to believe???

    From this article:

    Also Sunday, autopsy results were released that showed Matt’s three weeks on the run were grueling…

    Also, the autopsy, conducted Saturday at Albany Medical Center, revealed that Matt probably spent most of the last three weeks in the outdoors.

    Bug bites were found on Matt’s lower extremities, along with “blisters and minor abrasions consistent with living in the woods for three weeks,” the statement read.

    The Buffalo News reported Sunday that Matt was also ill and drunk when he was shot. A law enforcement source revealed that soiled underwear was found Wednesday in a burglarized cabin. The DNA on the underwear was matched to Matt and indicated he was sick, possibly from drinking bad water or eating spoiled food. The source also said Matt’s body had a strong odor of alcohol.

    OR FROM:
    http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/06/28/autopsy-richard-matt-shot-times-head/29436619/

    But a coroner who attended Matt’s autopsy told The Associated Press that Sweat’s fellow escapee had been eating and drinking well during his time on the run and was protected from the elements by heavy boots, camouflage pants and a dark green jacket.

    Matt may have even showered and shaved at some point, according to Franklin County Coroner Brian Langdon, who was present for the autopsy.
    ‘He looked clean and well-kept,’ Langdon said. ‘He wasn’t sleeping in any cave or anything like that for three weeks, that’s for sure.’ ”

    Langdon said the contents of Matt’s stomach would be analyzed and said he couldn’t speculate about when or what Matt’s last meal had been. Toxicology reports expected in a couple of weeks would show whether there was alcohol in his system, he said.

    “I would say he was in very good condition, physically,” Langdon said.

    LOL they can’t get their story straight even now…

    1. Oh wait, now I remember where I saw this script before….

      The year is 2017. The world economy has collapsed. The United States has sealed off it’s borders and has become a military controlled police state which controls TV, movies, art, books, communication and censorship. In the police state America has become, criminals have a choice. They can serve their sentences in prison or they can take part in “The Running Man” a government owned violent game-show where contestants running for freedom are pursued by “Stalkers” wrestler-like bounty hunters. “The Running Man” is the top rating show on network TV and Damon Killian, the creator and host is the most popular entertainer in the US. But one man has yet to play… Former L.A. police officer Ben Richards, framed for the massacre of innocent people, when disobeyed orders is recaptured, after escaping from prison. Ben is forced to appear on “The Running Man”, joined by resistance fighters William Laughlin and Harold Weiss and Amber Mendez, (a network employee who Richards took hostage and she turned Richards into the authorities) are chased by The Stalkers, as they search for the secret base of the resistance, as they bid to broadcast the truth about the government and prove Ben’s innocence.

      http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3142560/Dog-Bounty-Hunter-hand-hunt-David-Sweat-claims-BIKE-caught.html

Join the Conversation

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


*