AFP, NEW YORK: 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 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.
D'Amico said Matt's fellow escaped killer, 35-year-old David Sweat, was still at large.
The men broke out of Clinton Correctional Facility, about 40 miles from Malone, on June 6 in a spectacular, Hollywood-style prison break.