Richard Matt, 49, was killed yesterday in the town of Malone, less than 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the Canadian border, and the net appeared to be closing on his accomplice David Sweat.
Police believe they have the 35-year-old Sweat, who was serving a life sentence without parole for murdering a sheriff's deputy in 2002, contained within a perimeter, CNN reported.
The duo, whom police described as dangerous and possibly armed, used power tools to cut their way out of their cells at the Clinton Correctional Facility -- about 40 miles from Malone -- before dawn on June 6 in a spectacular prison break likened to a Hollywood movie.
New York State Police Superintendent Joseph D'Amico did not say why Matt shot at the vehicle. But The New York Times quoted a source as saying he was attempting to carry out a carjacking.
Also Read
Police found Matt, who was serving a sentence of 25 years to life for the 1997 kidnapping and dismembering of his former boss, near a cabin.
"We were able to get into the cabin, where we discovered the smell of gunpowder and realized a weapon had been fired," D'Amico told reporters.
Officers recovered a 20-gauge shotgun from Matt.