CONSTABLE, N.Y. — David Sweat, the remaining prison escapee on the run in northern New York, was shot by a state trooper and taken into custody on Sunday after a 23-day manhunt that began with an improbable escape from two maximum-security cells and ended in the rain-drenched woods just south of the Canadian border. 
 
 Mr. Sweat, 35, a murderer who had been serving a sentence of life without parole, was in critical condition at Albany Medical Center late Sunday night, according to Dennis P. McKenna, the hospital’s medical director. 
 
 The shooting occurred here around 3:20 p.m. after a State Police sergeant spotted a man jogging down a road, stopped to question him and recognized him as Mr. Sweat, said Superintendent Joseph A. D’Amico of the New York State Police. The sergeant, Jay Cook, told Mr. Sweat to come over to him, but instead Mr. Sweat turned and fled across a field toward the tree line, Mr. D’Amico said. Sergeant Cook, a firearms instructor who was patrolling by himself, gave chase and finally opened fire, striking Mr. Sweat twice in the torso, because he realized the fugitive was going to make it to the woods and possibly disappear, Mr. D’Amico said. 
 
 More than 1,300 officers in rain-slicked gear had helped to tighten a cordon around Mr. Sweat on Sunday as the search, which had at times appeared to lurch between small New York towns as officials chased shreds of reported sightings, focused in on 22 square miles of rugged terrain. The confrontation with Mr. Sweat took place two days after his partner in flight from the authorities, Richard W. Matt, was shot and killed by a federal agent in the woods of Malone, N.Y. 

 Prison-break fugitive David Sweat’s life on the lam came to an abrupt end Sunday, thanks to the aim of a New York State Police sure shot. 
 
 Sgt. Jay Cook, a 21-year veteran state trooper and firearms instructor, was hailed a “hero” by Gov. Cuomo, after he single-handedly confronted escaped cop-killer Sweat on a desolate road and shot him twice in the torso as the fugitive made a run for the woods. 
 
 Sweat was taken into custody bloodied, but alive. 
 
 “He was alone when this happened,” Cuomo said of Cook, 47. “He knew the area very well. It was a very courageous act.” 
 
 FOLLOW THE DAILY NEWS ON FACEBOOK. CLICK HERE TO "LIKE." 
 
 Cook — the married father of two daughters, ages 16 and 17 — works out of Troop B headquarters in Ray Brook, near where he took down Sweat following an intense 23-day manhunt. 
 
 “He was in the right place at the right time and he saw him, and the rest is history,” Cook’s 73-year-old mother, Judy, told the Daily News. “He’s always been a hero to us. He’s a wonderful son.” 
 
 Cook’s mother-in-law, Nancy Durant, 62, told The News the brave trooper was being reunited with his wife Sunday night at the police barracks in Malone. 
 
 “We’re all in a state of shock. We’re very proud of him,” she said, adding her husband has a hunting camp near where Sweat, 35, was shot. “I think it was a 1 in 1,300 chance.” 
 
 SOURCE: FUGITIVE PRISONER DAVID SWEAT SHOT, IN CUSTODY 
 
 She said the manhunt was gut-wrenching for everyone in her upstate region. 
 
 “It was scary,” she said. “It’s an emotional time for us.” 
 
 Cook graduated from the state police academy in 1994. Out of 150 candidates, he graduated the most proficient shooter in his class. 
 
 Besides being a firearms instructor, Cook was the Troop B officer in charge of a new ballistics and gun registration system. 
 
 David Sweat is pictured in police custody after being shot twice and captured on Sunday near Malone, N.Y. 
 
 TEENS SAY THEY ALMOST PICKED UP ESCAPED PRISONER DAVID SWEAT 
 
 “He did an excellent job,” said state police Superintendent Joseph D’Amico. “I think he did a very courageous and brave act of policing.” 
 
 ON A MOBILE DEVICE? WATCH THE VIDEO HERE. 

 (WBNG Binghamton) After his capture, escaped prisoner David Sweat's mother spoke to Action News. 
 
 "I always told my kids, 'you do the crime you do the time'," said David Sweat's mother Pamela Sweat. "I always had trouble with David when he was growing up." 
 
 Pamela's son was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for murder. 
 
 "It just hurts my heart," said Pamela. "I couldn't sleep." 
 
 Pamela isn't the only person who suffered insomnia after Sweat's escape. 
 
 "It's a lot of stress, you think about it all the time," said Tarsia's brother Tom. "You wake up at night and think about it." 
 
 Sweat murdered Broome County Sheriff's Deputy Kevin Tarsia in 2002. 
 
 "Deputy Tarsia was a good person. Happy, smiling all the time," said Broome County Sheriff David Harder (R). "I don't have much to say good about Sweat. All he was was just a killer, a murderer. The way he treated Deputy Tarsia that night was inhumane." 
 
 Now that Sweat has been captured, Tarsia's family wants answers. 
 
 "At least now we'll maybe know what happened," said his brother Tom. "They'll put him in a pen where he never gets out. He should have been in there in the first place." 
 
 After 23 days on the run, Sweat was captured by state police a mile and a half from the Canadian border. 
 
 "I wish he would have gave up a long time ago," said Pamela. 
 
 During the capture, Sweat suffered two gunshot wounds to the torso. 
 
 Tarsia's brother said Sweat got what he deserved. 
 
 "I was hoping they'd catch him and shoot him and run him over and do every harmful thing they did to him," said Tom. 
 
 Despite everything her son has done, Sweat's mother stands by him. 
 
 When asked what she would say to Sweat now, Pamela answered, "I love you, always have and always will." 
 
 Like Julianne Peixoto on Facebook and follow her on Twitter. 
 
 

 The sergeant who captured fugitive David Sweat is a 21-year police veteran who was hailed as a hero by New York's governor for opening fire after the inmate ran from him toward a tree line near the Canadian border. 
 
 New York State Police Superintendent Joseph D'Amico said Sunday that Sgt. Jay Cook was by himself when he shot and wounded Sweat after the fugitive refused a command to stop. 
 
 D'Amico said Cook, who hails from Troop B, is a 21-year veteran of the New York State Police. He said that Cook was supervising the perimeter of the manhunt when he spotted a male jogging along the road. When Cook approached, the male ignored him and said "what do you want from me?" D'Amico said. 
 
 Cook, who immediately recognized the inmate, gave chase when Sweat fled and decided to fire as the fugitive approached a tree line where Cook feared he would lose him, state police said. 
 
 "If Sweat made the tree line, he would have been gone," said D'Amico, who said that he could only "assume" the escapee was headed toward the Canadian border less than two miles away. 
 
 Sweat, who was unarmed, was struck twice in the torso and was taken to a hospital in stable condition, authorities said. 
 
 D'Amico said that Cook was alone on a routine patrol and not acting on a tip. 
 
 "Brave policing," D'Amico said. 
 
 Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he spoke to Sgt. Cook, who has two teenage daughters, after the manhunt ended. 
 
 "I said, 'Well, you go home tonight and tell your daughters that you're a hero,' " Cuomo said. "With teenage girls, that'll probably last a good 24 hours, and then you'll just go back to being a regular dad." 
 
 The sergeant's mother, Judy Cook, told The Press-Republican of Plattsburgh that her 47-year-old son "just happened to be in the right place at the right time" when he shot Sweat. 
 
 Cook is a native of the neighboring town of Burke, and his mother said he has been patrolling the area along the border for years. 
 
 Sweat's capture comes two days after after his fellow inmate, Richard Matt, was killed in a confrontation with law enforcement. 

 MALONE, N.Y. (AP) — Some of the same state troopers who spent three weeks hunting down two escaped killers 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. 
 
 Law enforcement officers stands outside Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone, N.Y., on Sunday, June 28, 2015, where David Sweat was taken after being shot and captured. Sweat's capture came two days after... (Associated Press) 
 
 Dr. Dennis McKenna gives an update on the condition of escaped prisoner David Sweat during a news conference at Albany Medical Center after his arrival on Sunday, June 28, 2015, in Albany, N.Y. The second... (Associated Press) 
 
 Prison escapee David Sweat arrives at Albany Medical Center on Sunday, June 28, 2015, in Albany, N.Y. Sweat, the second of two convicted murderers who staged a brazen escape three weeks ago from a maximum-security... (Associated Press) 
 
 An ambulance carrying escaped convict David Sweat arrives at at Albany Medical Center on Sunday, June 28, 2015, in Albany, N.Y. The second of two convicted murderers who staged a brazen escape three weeks... (Associated Press) 
 
 Corrections officers wave to passing motorists who cheered them after the second of two escaped prisoners was apprehended on Sunday, June 28, 2015, in Constable, N.Y. David Sweat, the second of two convicted... (Associated Press) 
 
 A sign at the Constable Volunteer Fire and EMS thanks law enforcement after the second of two escaped prisoners was apprehended on Sunday, June 28, 2015, in Constable, N.Y. David Sweat, the second of... (Associated Press) 
 
 Police escort an ambulance from an area where law enforcement officers were searching for David Sweat, one of two convicted murderers who broke out of a maximum-security prison near the Canadian border,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Dr. Dennis McKenna gives an update on the condition of escaped prisoner David Sweat during a news conference at Albany Medical Center after his arrival on Sunday, June 28, 2015, in Albany, N.Y. The second... (Associated Press) 
 
 Police stand over David Sweat after he was shot and captured near the Canadian border Sunday, June 28, 2015, in Constable, N.Y. Sweat is the second of two convicted murderers who staged a brazen escape... (Associated Press) 
 
 Law enforcement officers stand outside Alice Hyde Medical Center, to where David Sweat was transported Sunday, June 28, 2015, in Malone, N.Y. The second of two convicted murderers who staged a brazen... (Associated Press) 
 
 Police stand over David Sweat after he was shot and captured near the Canadian border Sunday, June 28, 2015, in Constable, N.Y. Sweat is the second of two convicted murderers who staged a brazen escape... (Associated Press) 
 
 Police escort ambulances from an area where law enforcement officers were searching for David Sweat, one of two convicted murderers who broke out of a maximum-security prison near the Canadian border,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Prison escapee David Sweat, is wheeled in to Alice Hyde Medical Center, after being shot and captured Sunday, June 28, 2015, in Malone, N.Y. The second of two convicted murderers who staged a brazen escape... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Wednesday, June 24, 2015, file photo, Law enforcement officers walk along a road before going into the woods near Mountain View, N.Y., as the search continued for Richard Matt and David... (Associated Press) 
 
 David Sweat 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. He was in critical condition at an Albany hospital Sunday night. 
 
 His capture came two days after his fellow escapee, Richard Matt, was killed in a confrontation with law enforcement 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 a maximum-security prison about 30 miles away 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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," Gov. Andrew 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 upon fearing he would lose him 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 the scent of 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 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 the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora. 
 
 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. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writers Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, New York, and Deepti Hajela in New York City contributed to this report.
– Sgt. Jay Cook, the officer being hailed as a hero for single-handedly stopping prison escapee David Sweat in his tracks, was alone on patrol when he encountered the fugitive 1,300 other officers were looking for, police say. State Police Superintendent Joseph D'Amico says Cook, a 21-year veteran of the force, was along the perimeter of the manhunt when he spotted Sweat jogging down a country road in Constable, NY, CBS News reports. D'Amico says that after the fugitive ignored an order to stop, Cook chased him on foot and opened fire, hitting him twice, as Sweat approached a tree line, where Cook feared he would lose the escapee. "If Sweat made the tree line, he would have been gone," D'Amico says. D'Amico believes Sweat was heading for the Canadian border, which was less than 2 miles away. Cook, who's married with two teenage daughters, is apparently a crack shot: He was the top shooter out of 150 state police academy candidates in 1994, the New York Daily News reports. "He's not used to being shoved into the spotlight like this," Cook's mother tells the Plattsburgh Press Republican. "He was a rover today, and he just happened to be in the right place at the right time. He's very sharp." In other developments: Sweat, who was shot twice in the torso, is in critical condition at an Albany hospital, the AP reports. He'll be interviewed extensively by investigators when he recovers, and D'Amico says they've already found one of his tricks for evading capture: pepper to throw dogs off the scent. The capture of Sweat, which came soon after the shooting death of escape partner Richard Matt, has brought relief to many residents in a usually quiet part of the state. A woman who lives on a farm in Constable tells the New York Times that troopers came to her house to tell her Sweat had been captured in a nearby field. "I suspected they would come toward Canada," she says. "Every time I walk the dog, I'm always looking down the tracks. But I didn't think it would happen in the field." Sweat was serving a sentence of life without parole for the murder of Sheriff's Deputy Kevin Tarsia in 2002, and the officer's brother tells WBNG that the inmate deserved the two gunshot wounds. "At least now we'll maybe know what happened," he says. "They'll put him in a pen where he never gets out. He should have been in there in the first place." WBNG also spoke to Sweat's mother, who says she had a lot of trouble sleeping during his 23 days on the run. "I always told my kids, 'You do the crime, you do the time,'" she says. "I always had trouble with David when he was growing up."