MALONE, N.Y. (AP) — The escaped murderer who was shot by a state trooper near the Canadian border is in "critical but stable" condition at an Albany hospital, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday.
Cuomo told CNN that David Sweat's condition initially was listed in stable condition but was downgraded to critical after being flown to Albany Medical Center on Sunday night.
Sweat is one of two prisoners who escaped from a maximum-security New York prison three weeks ago. The other escapee, Richard Matt, was killed in a confrontation with law enforcement on Friday.
Cuomo said Sweat had a bag containing maps, tools, bug repellent and Pop Tarts when he was shot twice by Sgt. Jay Cook on Sunday afternoon in a farm field less than two miles from the border in Constable, New York.
The daring escape from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora was "done with facilitators, it was done with cooperators," Cuomo said.
"This was 'Cool Hand Luke' meets 'Shawshank Redemption," he said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
Some of the same state troopers who'd been hunting down the convicts since their escape found themselves scrambling to get the lone survivor to a hospital, hoping to make him well enough to share the tale of how the pair managed to escape and stay on the run for so long.
Sweat, 35, was shot and captured Sunday afternoon when a single state police sergeant spotted a suspicious man walking on a rural road in Constable, near the Canadian border.
His capture came two days after Matt was killed in Malone, just south of Constable, while holding a shotgun. Sweat was unarmed when he was shot twice by Sgt. Jay Cook as the fugitive ran for a tree line.
The men had been on the loose since June 6, when they cut their way out of the prison in Dannemora, about 30 miles from Malone, using power tools. Two prison workers have been charged with helping them.
Clinton correction officer Gene Palmer, charged with promoting prison contraband, tampering with physical evidence and official misconduct, is due in court Monday. His attorney has said he will plead not guilty.
Gene Palmer
Officials said Palmer gave the two prisoners frozen hamburger meat that a prison tailoring shop instructor had used to hide the tools she smuggled to Sweat and Matt. Palmer's attorney said he had no knowledge that the meat contained hacksaw blades, a bit and a screwdriver.
Prosecutors said the tailor shop worker, Joyce Mitchell, got close to the men while working with them and had agreed to be their getaway driver but backed out because she felt guilty for participating in the escape. Authorities also said Mitchell had discussed killing her husband as part of the plot.
Joyce Mitchell
Mitchell pleaded not guilty June 15 to charges including felony promoting prison contraband.
Sweat's capture ended an ordeal that sent 1,300 law enforcement officers into the thickly forested northern reaches of New York and forced residents to tolerate nerve-wracking armed checkpoints and property searches.
"The nightmare is finally over," Cuomo declared at a news conference.
Cook, a 21-year veteran, was alone and on routine patrol when he stumbled upon Sweat in Constable, about 30 miles northwest of the prison. He gave chase when Sweat fled and decided to fire fearing he would lose Sweat in the trees, state police said.
"I can only assume he was going for the border," Superintendent Joseph D'Amico said.
D'Amico said the men may have used black pepper to throw off their scent from the dogs that were tracking them; he said Sweat's DNA was recovered from pepper shakers found at one camp where the fugitives may have spent time.
Cuomo said many questions remained unanswered in the case, including whether the inmates had other accomplices.
"We have already started a full investigation," he said. "But today ends with good news. These were dangerous, dangerous men."
Sweat had not been formally interviewed by investigators as of late Sunday, but any information he provides could be critical to the investigation, Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie said.
Sweat will be charged with escape, burglary and other charges, Wylie said. He and Matt are suspected of breaking into some of the region's many cabins during their time on the lam. Wylie said prosecutors would wait for Sweat to recover before charging him.
Matt, 49, and Sweat used power tools to saw through a steel cell wall and several steel steam pipes, bashed a hole through a 2-foot-thick brick wall, squirmed through pipes and emerged from a manhole outside Clinton Correctional.
Sweat was serving a sentence of 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 his former boss.
Authorities said the men had filled their beds in their adjacent cells with clothes to make it appear they were sleeping when guards made overnight rounds. On a cut steam pipe, the prisoners left a taunting note containing a crude caricature of an Asian face and the words "Have a nice day."
Prosecutors said the inmates apparently used tools stored by prison contractors, taking care to return them to their toolboxes after each night's work.
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Associated Press writers Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, New York, and Deepti Hajela in New York City contributed to this report.
Already facing charges of murder, assault, weapons violations and drug trafficking,Bobby Shmurdacan now add the offense of promoting prison contraband to that list.
The New York Daily News reports that on June 21, a guard witnessed Bobby's girlfriend, Kimberly Rousseau, 18, hand him a "black latex glove balloon wrapped in black electrical tape out of her bra and hand it to him. The guard opened the balloon and found a sharpened metal object" during a visit to Rikers Island in New York.
Bobby was arrested and both were charged
Shmurda, real name Ackquille Pollard, is already staring at 25-years in prison if convicted of the previous charges.
Karrueche Tran was a thing of beauty at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles for the 2015 BET Awards. The model rocked platinum hair while wearing a Michael Costello suit and sheer black bralette.
"Let a nigga try me, try me/ I'm a get his whole mothafuckin' family/ And I ain't playin wit nobody/ Fuck around and I'm a catch a body,"Dej Loaf"Try Me."
Dej Loaf got tried during sound check at the 2015 BET Awards and one of her ex-managers didn't like the results.
TMZ reports that Dej fired her two managers a few days ago and hired a new team. Both of the approached her Saturday, June 27, to "talk it out."
The singer, her new team and bodyguards weren't having it. A fight ensued and one of the former managers had to go to the hospital to get stitches for a cut on his forehead.
Rihanna showed up at the BET Awards on Sunday, June 28, wearing a roll of duct tape as a bracelet. She put it to use on Floyd Mayweather Jr., who was seated next to her.
Riri duct taped the boxing champion mouth shut before turning her head in the opposite direction. Floyd can be seen mumbling something, while giving the singer a blank stare.
It was most likely a joke, butYahoo reports that the two were not sitting next to each other after the next commercial break.
Charli XCX performs in the BBC Music Tepee at Glastonbury 2015. Visit the Glastonbury website at http://bbc.co.uk/glastonbury for more videos and photos.
This is the Latest Club/ Street Banger by Drag On titled: "Sicka Niggas" Prod. by Spazoutbeatz
The Former Ruff Ryder, Now Hood Environment Artist is hitting the Streets hard with this one. The beat hits hard with an Upmempo feel and unique sampling by Spazoutbeatz coupled with Drags bouncy delivery and catchy bars makes this a certtified smash.
New York heavy spitterProphitis a little off kilter and he tells you all about it in his banging new song titled"Loco."The track was produced byRemo The Hitmaker.
This will appear on Remo and PaperChaserDotCom's forthcoming mixtape, The Purest Product, Vol. 1, dropping on July 1st.
Follow Prophit @prophitmusic and the team on Twitter, Instagram Google+ and Facebook
George Clinton is an icon. The bands he created, Parliament and Funkadelic, introduced a sound that will never be duplicated. Many of the songs that your favorite rappers have turned into hit records sampled from Clinton and his groups.
For proof, look no further than Dr. Dre'sChronic.
Parliament continues to tour nonstop and pulled into the Glastonbury 2015 Festival on Saturday, June 27.
Check out their performance of "Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)."
When it was announced that Kanye West would be headlining the Glastonbury Festival several months ago some fans protested, preferring instead to have a rock band in his place.
On Saturday, June 27, Yeezy showed why he was deserving of the honor when he came, saw and conquered during his 1 1/2 hour plus set.
During West's performance of "Black Skinhead" comedian Lee Nelson crashed the stage in an attemp to disrupt the performance, but as Goodie Mob says "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show."
Setlist:
Stronger Power Niggas in Paris Black Skinhead All Day Cold Clique I Don’t Like (Chief Keef cover) Mercy New Slaves Blood on the Leaves Heartless I Wonder FourFiveSeconds (Rihanna cover) Woods (Bon Iver cover) Lost in the World (with Justin Vernon) Hold My Liquor (with Justin Vernon) No Church In The Wild Jesus Walks Diamonds from Sierra Leone Bound 2 Runaway Only One Touch the Sky All of the Lights Good Life Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen cover) Can’t Tell Me Nothing
Remo The Hitmaker has a new single on his hands that's guaranteed to get any club or party jumping called "Why You Mad At Me?" The remix features none other than music icon 50 Cent.
Let's go behind the scenes as New Wave Music INC. and Five Kingz present Remo recreating the song from scratch. Remo also talks about 50 loving the record and keeping his word by coming through the studio at 3 in the morning to record his verse.
All up and coming producers and hip hop heads are going to love this.
DMX, real name,Earl Simmons, is in trouble once again with the law.
The 44-year old rapper was on his way to perform at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan on Friday, June 26, when cops caught up with him.
According to Pix 11, Dark Man X had: "An arrest warrant issued by the Erie County Family Court for $400,000 worth of back child support, the spokesman said. Another arrest warrant was issued by the city of White Plains for bail jumping; the city of Yonkers is accusing the rapper of being an aggravated unlicensed motor vehicle operator; and a criminal complaint out of Newark, N.J., names DMX as a suspect in an April 5 robbery at a gas station in that city, the sheriff’s office said."
He was arrested at 10:30 p.m. by sheriff's in Manhattan. No word on whether he was popped at the venue or before.
Slim Thug is preparing to release a new album titled Hogg Life, Vol.2: Still Surviving on July 10. Here's the first song off of it, Piece N Chain. Pre-order it from iTunes https://twitter.com/slimthugga
Pinky opened up to VladTV about the HIV rumors she's been dealing with over the years, and she explained why she finally made a video that showed her getting tested. The famed entertainer added that she made sure that the video was tasteful, because she wanted to be respectful to those who are dealing with the disease.
During the conversation Pinky also revealed that she knows people who are currently dealing with HIV, and she also knew people who passed away from the disease. When asked how her friends and family contracted the disease, Pinky said some contracted it from unprotected sex, others from intravenous drug use, and then addressed her personal choice to always wear a condom on set.