According to officials, a homeowner who discovered the fugitive prisoner Danelo Cavalcante in the garage taking a rifle fired a gun at him.
In a news briefing on Tuesday morning, Pennsylvania State Officer George Bivins said that the homeowner called officers at 10:10 p.m. ET to report that a small Hispanic male had entered the garage when the homeowner was inside and taken a 22 rifle from a shelf in the corner.
The individual, identified as Cavalcante by the police, was shot at by the homeowner numerous times while he “fled with the rifle.”
Within minutes, police arrived at the Coventryville Road residence, but Cavalcante had left. Bivins stated that he thought Cavalcante, 34, who has been missing since August 31, was safe.
The search area was widened after the discovery of a white T-shirt and a green sweater that was thought to be the convict’s possession close to the home’s driveway.
According to Bivins, there have been a number of “significant developments” in the hunt for Cavalcante, including the interaction with the homeowner.
At 8 o’clock on Monday night, a driver reported sighting a man crouching in the woods near Route 100’s Fairview Road West. The driver rounded her vehicle to make sure she had seen the man, but when she did, he had vanished.
A Border Patrol tactical squad and a sizable contingent of troops flocked to the scene, which was already populated with them.
They discovered some dirt and footprints that “exactly matched the prison shoes worn by Cavalcante,” according to Bivins. Officials soon discovered his prison shoes.
In addition, before the call regarding the shooting, a local homeowner informed authorities that a pair of work boots had been taken from the porch of the house.
Cavalcante is seen as being heavily armed and dangerous. He has a 22 caliber rifle fitted with a flashlight and a scope now, Bivins said.
In addition to aviation resources, K-9 teams, and mounted patrols being activated, searches were conducted overnight by a number of organizations, including the Pennsylvania State Police, the FBI, and U.S. Marshals. According to officials, that perimeter was guarded by more than 500 officers.
The present boundary, which is eight to ten square miles in size, extends from PA 23 to the north, PA 100 to the east, Fairview to the south, and County Park Road to the west.
“We ask residents who live near this facility to protect their homes, outbuildings, and vehicles,” Bivins said, stressing that reverse 911 messages had been issued to local households advising them to lock their houses.
In South Coventry Township, Chester County, northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania State Police had earlier reported that Cavalcante was being sought.
Police warned the public not to get close to him, to stay inside, and to lock every door and window.
Cavalcante appeared different when he was seen Sunday in the adjacent Phoenixville.
Cavalcante was found guilty of fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend and was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole last month.
According to the police, he allegedly sought to get in touch with former coworkers to ask for assistance.
Bivins stated on Tuesday, “I feel at this time he is beyond assistance so we will actively look till we find him.
On security footage from the day of Cavalcante’s escape from the Chester County Prison in Pocopson Township, he can be seen stretching across a wall in the exercise yard before ascending to the roof.
After investigating a location where Cavalcante had left a stolen van, police said on Monday that the “long game” in their search for Cavalcante had begun.
Police claimed that he had been hiding out initially in wooded areas before moving into a more densely populated location.
The fact that he is now in an urban area, according to Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Clark, gives law enforcement an advantage over when he was playing that tactical game of hide-and-seek in the woods. Our investigators excel at doing that.