A homeowner fired multiple shots at the convicted killer who escaped from a Pennsylvania prison two weeks ago by ‘crab walking’ between two walls, police said on Tuesday (September 12).
However, Danelo Cavalcante stole a rifle from the garage of a local homeowner, who fired several shots at the fugitive as he fled. Police say they now consider Cavalcante to be “armed and extremely dangerous”.
“We consider him desperate, we consider him dangerous,” said Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens. “I would suspect that he’s desperate enough to use that weapon.”
Cavalcante, 34, was spotted on Monday night in the Coventry Township, about 20 miles north of the prison, in Chester County. He was being held at Chester County Prison, 30 miles west of Philadelphia, after being convicted last month of first-degree murder.
He had stabbed his former girlfriend 38 times, in front of her two young children in Pennsylvania in April 2021, prosecutors said. Video shows he escaped from custody on August 31 by putting his hands on one wall and his feet on another – and then “crab-walked” up to the roof.
He has been spotted a number of times in the Chester County area since then. On Monday (September 11) police received a call from a resident who said a topless male had entered his garage and taken a rifle.
In a press conference the next day, Lt. Col. Bivens said the homeowner fired his pistol at Cavalcante as he fled, but there was “no reason to believe” the fugitive was hit by any of the rounds or injured. A white T-shirt and green sweatshirt and were found near the home’s driveway.
“I think he is just trying to survive and avoid being captured right now,” said Bivens. A huge manhunt – involving around 500 law enforcement officers, including the Pennsylvania State Police, FBI, ATF, and the US Marshals – was launched after the shooting.
Residents within three miles of the shooting incident were urged to “lock all external doors and windows, secure vehicles, and remain indoors” by reverse 911 calls.
Bivens said a perimeter, stretching several miles in each direction, had been set up. He told the press conference: “It’s a large area, wooded, hilly terrain. It’s not something that it’s a matter of sending a few people in and searching.”
He also defended law enforcement’s actions, describing the hunt for Cavalcante as trying to find a needle in a haystack.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said: “We’ve got the best working on it, starting with the Pennsylvania State Police, which I have the utmost confidence in.”
