Copter dropped in, then agent shot Matt

U.S. Border Patrol special agents flew in via helicopter following reports of gunshots in northern New York during the manhunt for two escaped murderers, then found one of the killers cowering behind a tree and killed him when he raised a shotgun.

That detailed account of Richard Matt's death — which came after three weeks on the run and multiple close calls and false sightings — came Thursday from the head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Swanton, Vermont, sector.

"Our agents were obviously expecting the worst on every one of those calls," Chief John Pfeifer said. "Very challenging terrain, challenging weather, lot of stress. You're dealing with some very bad individuals. Can't thank law enforcement enough for bringing these individuals back in."

The killers escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, late June 5 or early June 6 by cutting through their cell walls, navigating the maximum-security prison's labyrinthine catwalks, breaking through a brick wall, sawing into and out of a metal pipe and breaking a chain on a manhole cover beyond the lockup's walls down the street.

The murderers remained on the run for three weeks before Matt was killed and David Sweat was shot and captured.

Law enforcement concentrated their search for Matt, 49, and Sweat, 35, on the rugged woods and small towns near the prison after a woman whom police say had agreed to be the getaway driver, prison tailor-shop instructor Joyce Mitchell, failed to show at the arranged time. She has pleaded not guilty to charges related to aiding the killers' escape.

The men split up about a week before the authorities ended the escapees' time on the lam.

Agents found Matt first.

Last Friday, a resident in Malone, New York, told investigators of possible gunshots in the area. The Border Patrol deployed its Tactical Team Special Operations Group to the scene on two A-Star helicopters.

The choppers landed, and members of the team, known as BORTAC, entered the woods at 3:45 p.m., Chief Pfeifer said. There were 8-12 agents, he said, declining to be more specific because of an ongoing investigation into the use of deadly force.

Agents heard a cough and knew the sound was human.

"One of the agents came up on an individual who was lying down behind a fallen tree," Pfeifer said in a Thursday call with reporters.

"Agents verbally ordered the individual to put his hands up. An agent observed the individual fail to comply with the verbal commands and aim what was later determined to be a 20-gauge shotgun at him. The agent discharged his service-issued M-4 rifle, striking the individual, who died at the scene."

An autopsy shows Matt was killed by three shots to the head, according to the New York State Police.

Then on Sunday, New York State Police Sgt. Jay Cook spotted a man jogging down a road less than 2 miles from the Canadian border in Constable, New York, and confronted him. The jogger turned out to be Sweat. He fled across a field once Cook recognized him, and the sergeant shot Sweat twice to prevent the escapee from reaching a treeline and potentially disappearing again into the woods.

Sweat is being treated at a hospital in Albany, New York, and is reported to be providing the authorities with details of his and Matt's escape scheme.

Announcing the capture of Sweat, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state police Superintendent Joseph D'Amico praised Cook as a hero.

But the Customs and Border Protection agent who killed Matt has remained anonymous. Chief Pfeifer said agency policy generally requires law enforcement to withhold forever the identity of an agent who kills an individual, but CBP says law enforcement might make an exception following the internal investigation into the use of force.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., had said Friday that the agent was from Vermont, but CBP told the Burlington Free Press this week that statement is inaccurate. Pfeifer said Thursday the BORTAC team was composed of specially trained law officers from the Swanton Sector and from El Paso, Texas.

The El Paso Times reported that the agent who killed Matt was assigned to a BORTAC team based at Fort Bliss, Texas. The group is considered a special national team and was on assignment to the massive manhunt.

Pfeifer said he could release few specifics about the deadly encounter in the woods between agents and Matt, including:

•Whether the escapee's shotgun was loaded.

•What firing settings were selected on the M-4 rifle used by the agent to kill Matt.

•Whether the BORTAC team approached Matt from the front or the rear.

No other agent fired a weapon, Pfeifer said. The Swanton Sector chief also disclosed that Matt said nothing before he was killed.

There is no standard length of time for Customs and Border Protection investigations into use of deadly force, "but I don't anticipate this one taking very long," Pfeifer said.

"That investigation is going to look into a lot of different physical evidence, eyewitness accounts of what happened, forensics, to determine that deadly force was appropriate," the chief said, noting that he was speaking generally about CBP inquiries.

"When an individual is confronted that has the means, the capability, and the intent to inflict deadly force on one of our agents or an innocent third party, then we are within our means to use deadly force against that subject."

Sweat was serving a sentence of life without parole for killing a sheriff's deputy in Broome County in 2002. Matt was serving 25 years to life for murdering and dismembering his former boss.

EARLIER COVERAGE

• VSP: New York manhunt was 'logistical feat'
  
• Name of federal agent withheld. Killed escapee.
  
• Escapee captured: 'Nightmare' over in New York
• Relief among residents of upstate New York

This story was first posted online July 2, 2015. Contributing: Mike Donoghue, Free Press. Contact Adam Silverman at 802-660-1854, asilverman@freepressmedia.com, and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/wej12.