Danelo Cavalcante: Escaped Pennsylvania killer was surrounded by tactical teams moments before a police dog subdued him

CNN
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Escaped Pennsylvania inmate Danelo Cavalcante is in custody, Pennsylvania State Police introduced Wednesday morning, ending a two-week-long manhunt for the convicted killer that drew a whole bunch of legislation enforcement officers to the world and left the encompassing group gripped with concern.

The dramatic encounter with Cavalcante, involving a helicopter, a lightning storm, a police canine and greater than 20 tactical officers, led to his seize round 8 a.m. Wednesday morning, authorities stated.

“Our nightmare is lastly over,” Chester County District Legal professional Deb Ryan declared Wednesday morning.

Video from CNN affiliate KYW reveals Cavalcante in handcuffs, being escorted into the again of an armored Particular Response Workforce automobile, flanked by greater than a dozen legislation enforcement officers, most carrying rifles. Cavalcante was carrying darkish pants and a Philadelphia Eagles hoodie; officers ultimately lower his shirt with scissors and examined the tattoo on his again.

Stay updates: Escaped killer is in custody

Round 1 a.m. Wednesday morning, a helicopter flying above the search space picked up on a warmth sign on the bottom, Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens stated in a information convention. As a storm rolled in and lightning compelled the helicopter out, a tactical staff of 20 to 25 officers secured the world and waited out the storm till morning.

Cavalcante was sleeping when police discovered him, mendacity on prime of his rifle. As officers took Cavalcante unexpectedly, he tried to flee by crawling via thick underbrush with the rifle in hand, Bivens stated. A police canine was launched and bit him — bringing to a sudden finish a dramatic and harmful manhunt that coated a broad swath of Chester County and saved quite a few communities on edge.

Bivens stated the police canine performed an vital function in stopping Cavalcante, who he described as “defiant and nonetheless resisting arrest,” from utilizing the rifle he had with him. He famous that Cavalcante’s battle with the canine left him with a scalp wound.

“When the canine bought to him, he then went flat with the canine on him – the canine was capable of detain him there,” Bivens stated. “I used to be advised the rifle was inside arm’s size.”

Nobody else was injured throughout the seize, Bivens stated.

“It introduced a brand new degree of hazard for all of our folks out right here within the subject once we knew he obtained a firearm,” Bivens stated. “For me, the largest sense of reduction is nobody in the neighborhood was harmed and no legislation enforcement officer was harmed both.”

Cavalcante will probably be with state police “for some time,” and will probably be “medically assessed,” a state police spokesperson stated. He’ll then be transferred to a state correctional institute, the place he’ll serve his life sentence, Bivens stated.

Bivens stated Cavalcante had the looks of somebody who was within the woods for an prolonged time frame – that he was careworn.

“Which is precisely what we have been making an attempt to do all alongside,” he stated. “The entire level was to maintain him careworn, preserve him transferring, and preserve him off his recreation.”

“There have been individuals who have been intent and supposed to help him,” Bivens stated. “To the most effective of my data, we’ve got been profitable in stopping that help from reaching him.”

Bivens confirmed Cavalcante’s sister, Eleni Cavalcante, was one of many individuals who supposed to help him, although the district legal professional stated Eleni didn’t talk along with her brother throughout the manhunt. Eleni, who was beforehand arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is now within the technique of being deported after failing to cooperate with the investigation, Bivens stated.

“This can be a message from Pennsylvania State Police. The seek for Danelo Cavalcante is over. The topic is now in custody,” stated a Reverse 911 name despatched to space residents Wednesday morning.

The decision got here simply in the future after police despatched an analogous one, warning that Cavalcante had acquired a weapon, bringing a heightened sense of hazard to the already tense search.

Colleges have been closed and residents within the space have been suggested to lock their doorways and automobiles, as police closed in on South Coventry Township in Chester County, about 20 miles north of the jail he escaped from.

Cavalcante, 34, escaped from Chester County Jail, in a rural space some 30 miles west of Philadelphia on August 31, by “crab-walking” as much as the roof in an inmate train space. He was convicted final month of first-degree homicide for the killing of his former girlfriend, 33-year-old Deborah Brandão.

In keeping with prosecutors, Cavalcante stabbed Brandão 38 instances in entrance of her two younger youngsters in Pennsylvania in April 2021. He was arrested a number of hours later in Virginia, and authorities stated he was trying to flee to Mexico and supposed to later head to Brazil, his native nation.

Cavalcante can also be needed in a 2017 murder case in Brazil, a US Marshals Service official stated.

The jail escape upended lives in South Coventry Township, which has a inhabitants of simply over 2,600.

Throughout his two weeks on the run, Cavalcante was noticed inside houses, managed to slide via police search perimeters, stole a van, modified his look, confirmed up on the doorsteps of individuals he knew years in the past and stole a firearm.

Cavalcante turned up shirtless at a house owner’s storage Monday night time, ran in and grabbed a .22-caliber rifle, Bivens stated in a Tuesday information convention.

“We take into account him determined. We take into account him harmful,” he stated. “I might suspect that he’s determined sufficient to make use of that weapon.”

Catherine Evans, who lives close to the world the place Cavalcante was captured, had been working from house with the doorways locked, retaining shut watch of her environment from a window overlooking her yard.

“I’m in shock that he was this shut,” Evans advised CNN after Cavalcante’s seize was introduced.

“I’m very relieved to get again to regular. The conventional grind that I don’t stay up for, I’m very a lot trying ahead to it,” she added.

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About 500 legislation enforcement officers – together with members of the Pennsylvania State Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI and US Marshals – had arrange a fringe within the wooded space.

Pennsylvania state Sen. Katie Muth thanked legislation enforcement for his or her work in capturing Cavalcante in a Fb publish on Wednesday morning.

“At this time, Danelo Cavalcante will probably be positioned again behind bars for the remainder of his life. I additionally wish to bear in mind the sufferer, Deborah Brandão, whose household has been terrorized another time over the previous few weeks,” Muth wrote. “No quantity of justice will convey Deborah again to her household, however immediately a minimum of they’ll sleep a bit simpler understanding that Cavalcante can’t harm anybody else.”

One of many first calls the district Legal professional made after Cavalcante’s seize was to the household of Brandão, who had been “barricaded inside their houses not feeling protected wherever,” since his escape, Ryan stated.

“They have been shrieking with pleasure and happiness that he’s incarcerated,” Ryan stated Wednesday. “They’ve lived their very own private nightmare.”