Hide yo kids, hide yo wives, New Yorkers. Because two convicted murderers who shared adjoining cells have escaped a maximum security prison in Dannemora, N.Y.’s Clinton Correctional Facility sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning, according to New York State Police.
David Sweat, 34, and Richard Matt (never trust a dude with two first names, bros), 48, were both sentenced to life in prison after Matt kidnapped and beat a man to death back in 1997 and Sweat murdered a sheriff’s deputy back in 2002. New York City Governor, Andrew Cuomo, who canceled his trip to the Belmont stakes horse race in the wake of the news, described the men as “two dangerous individuals.”
How they escaped was nothing short of amazing.
The murderers duped the guards with dummies made from sweatshirts and used power drills to drill through steel walls, pipes and stone walls out of their cells, emerging on the other side of the prison’s towering 30-foot walls through a manhole. It is unclear how the prisoner’s obtained the power tools. The incident marks the first time anyone’s escaped from Clinton Correction Facility in its history.
Gareth Rhodes, the governor’s deputy press secretary, posted chilling photos on Twitter of the escape route and the eery note the killers left behind on a yellow sticky note.
On the pipe the 2 inmates cut open as part of escape, a note was left w a smiley face and caption “have a nice day” pic.twitter.com/Opo4qrgvg6
— Gareth Rhodes (@garethtrhodes) June 6, 2015
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.@NYGovCuomo looks at pipe used as part of escape. You can see aforementioned note in background. pic.twitter.com/QcJDXh0yHM — Gareth Rhodes (@garethtrhodes) June 6, 2015
One more close up of the note left on pipe that 2 inmates used to escape Clinton Correctional in #Dannemora pic.twitter.com/GFYqFOOE8e
— Gareth Rhodes (@garethtrhodes) June 7, 2015
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According to the New York Times, police wearing bulletproof vests and armed with rifles manned roadblocks leading to and from town, searching cars and trunks of passer bys. Officials said that more than 200 law enforcement officers were involved in the search, along with helicopters, K-9 units and bloodhounds.
New Yorkers, keep your eye out for these savages. The New York Times reports,
The police described Mr. Matt as 6 feet tall and weighing 210 pounds. He has black hair and hazel eyes, officials said. He has a tattoo on his back that says “Mexico Forever,” hearts tattooed on his chest and left shoulder and a Marine Corps insignia tattooed on his right, according to the police.
Mr. Sweat is 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs 165 pounds, the police said. He has brown hair and green eyes, and tattoos on his left biceps and his right fingers, according to the police.
And oh ya, this isn’t Matt’s first rodeo, he previously escaped from an Erie County, N.Y. jail in 1986, but was eventually apprehended.
GULP.
[H/T New York Times]