New York prison escapee shot twice and captured alive by state trooper

David Sweat, the surviving prisoner on the run in New York, has been shot and captured alive two miles from the Canadian border.

He was shot twice in the torso after an officer patrolling the area spotted him brazenly jogging down the road wearing head-to-toe camouflage.

Sergeant Jay Cook, a 21-year veteran, got out his vehicle to question the man before recognizing Sweat. Told to stop, Sweat broke into a run. When he got near a line of trees, almost vanishing from sight, Cook opened fire.

Sweat was treated by first responders at the scene then transported to Alice Hyde Medical Center, a small hospital in Malone, New York, just 40 miles from Clinton Correctional Facility, where he broke free on June 6.

At 6.25pm, Sweat, with an IV in his arm, was wheeled out of the emergency unit in a stable condition and placed in an ambulance bound for the larger Albany Medical Center, 200 miles south. 

The ambulance, with a heavy escort of state police vehicles, left eight minutes later. Local residents cheered as he left. 'We got you b*****d,' shouted one woman.

Sweat's capture comes two days after his fellow fugitive, double killer Richard Matt, was shot dead by police after leaving a clumsy trail of candy wrappers and liquor bottles in his wake as they fled authorities.

It is believed they were using black pepper stolen from hunting cabins to throw police dogs off their scent. 

Addressing reporters on Sunday night, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said: 'The nightmare is finally over.'