Escaped convict killed by police as manhunt continues for second

A convicted killer who broke out of a maximum-security New York prison three weeks ago was shot dead by authorities Friday, police said, as they continued to hunt for his fellow escapee.

Richard Matt, 49, was killed in the upstate town of Malone, less than 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the Canadian border, officials said.

New York State Police Superintendent Joseph D’Amico said authorities found Matt near a cabin after he apparently had fired at a passing camper van.

D’Amico did not say why Matt shot at the vehicle, but The New York Times cited a source as saying he was attempting to carry out a carjacking.

“We were able to get into the cabin, where we discovered the smell of gunpowder and realized a weapon had been fired,” D’Amico told reporters.

“As we were doing the ground search in the area, there was movement detected by officers on the ground… A tactical team from Customs and Border Protection met up with Matt in the woods, challenged him, and he was shot dead by Border Patrol at that time.”

Officers recovered a 20-gauge shotgun from Matt’s body.

D’Amico said Matt’s fellow escaped killer, 35-year-old David Sweat, was still at large.

Richard Matt is the one on left