Escaped prisoner Danelo Cavalcante, who has been on the run in Pennsylvania for nearly two weeks, stole a gun from a homeowner's open garage, prompting authorities to issue warnings Tuesday urging residents to stay inside and lock their doors.
At a news conference Tuesday morning, Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said Cavalcante stole a .22 caliber rifle – equipped with a flashlight and scope – from the garage of a Chester County home around 10 p.m. Monday.
The homeowner saw Cavalcante, drew a pistol and fired at the fugitive. Bivens said there's no evidence to suggest Cavalcante was struck by the multiple shots.
The homeowner called police, but by the time they got there, Cavalcante had fled. Near the driveway, authorities found a green sweatshirt and white T-shirt believed to have belonged to Cavalcante. He was seen in a similar sweatshirt on surveillance video over the weekend.
"Cavalcante is considered armed and extremely dangerous,” Bivens said.
At the time of his escape Aug. 31, Cavalcante was waiting to be transferred to a state prison following his life sentence for fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend, Deborah Brandao, in front of her two children in 2021. Cavalcante, a Brazilian national and former agricultural worker, is also wanted in connection to a 2017 murder of a 20-year-old man over a car repair debt in his native country.
Police set up a new perimeter stretching several miles in each direction from the location of the shooting and began searching there overnight into Tuesday. At least 500 law enforcement officers from local, state and federal agencies are involved in the manhunt across the heavily wooded and hilly terrain, Bivens said, and more units were being brought in.
“It will take a long time to clear that entire area,” he said of the new perimeter, “but we will continue until we do locate him.”
Cavalcante's encounter with the homeowner occurred in South Coventry Township, a rural area in northern Chester County, not far from where Cavalcante ditched a van he had stolen over the weekend. The area is roughly 20 miles north of the prison Cavalcante escaped from on Aug. 31 and the area where police had previously focused their efforts.
Residents in South Coventry Township were warned by law enforcement overnight to "lock all doors and windows, secure vehicles, and remain indoors," a social media post from the Pennsylvania State Police said.
Citing the threat posed by the fugitive, and the heavy police presence in the area, the Owen J. Roberts School District canceled classes for Tuesday.
"As a result of increased police activity in our community related to the pursuit of an escaped inmate from Chester County Prison, and after consultation with state and local law enforcement, we have made the decision to close all schools and offices in our district today," read a statement to parents from Superintendent Will Stout.
"We know that this situation is stressful and upsetting for our entire community," the statement said. "We thank you once again for your patience, support and understanding throughout the past several days."
Law enforcement was not far from the house when the man called them to report his run-in with Cavalcante on Monday night. They were actively tracking him in that area after two other incidents believed to be related to the escaped convict were reported by residents.
At 8 p.m., a motorist driving in South Coventry Township said she saw a man crouching near the edge of a wooded area off a roadway. A border patrol team responded and began to a search. They found footprints matching the prison-issued shoes worn by Cavalcante, Bivens said. They came upon the shoes nearby.
Another woman called a short while later, notifying police that a pair of work books had been stolen off her front porch. From that location, police searched north. The shooting was reported about an hour later, Bivens said.
The manhunt for Cavalcante intensified over the weekend after the fugitive stole a van, got well outside the police perimeter and was spotted on a home surveillance camera more than a week after he fled the Chester County Prison.
On Saturday night, about an hour after Cavalcante was suspected of stealing a 2020 Ford Transit van, he went to the home of a former co-worker and was seen on a doorbell security camera, Bivens said in a Sunday news conference.
The acquaintance was out to dinner but reviewed the security footage when he returned home and later informed police, Bivens said. The footage also revealed Cavalcante's new look, which included a clean-shaven face, a hooded sweatshirt, a black baseball style hat, green prison pants and white shoes.
Cavalcante unsuccessfully attempted to contact another former co-worker that same night in Phoenixville, more than 20 miles northeast of the Longwood Gardens botanical park area, where a perimeter had been set up that apparently failed to contain him.
While Cavalcante has friends and family in Chester County, authorities have been tight-lipped about whether they are cooperating with police or Cavalcante. Bivens on Tuesday declined to comment "on whatever assistance he may or may not have received."
On Sunday, Bivens announced Cavalcante’s sister had been arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and that she faces possible deportation over "some immigration issues."
At a news conference Monday, Bivens said the woman "chose not to assist" police in their hunt for her brother; however, he did not say whether she was actively assisting the fugitive.
“Her arrest was, again because she's an overstay,” Bivens said. “That was a process that would play out for anyone in her same circumstance. And what I would say is she has, she has failed to cooperate and so there was no value in law enforcement keeping her here at this point.”
Both the manhunt to find Cavalcante and the security at the facility he escaped have received criticism since Cavalcante fled the prison late last month.
To break out of the facility, Cavalcante crab-walked up a wall, blasted through razor wire and crossed a roof. The same route was used in May by another inmate, Igor Bolte, who was arrested within minutes.
Prison officials have pledged to increase staff and install a fence to close the space above the prison yard wall that Bolte and Cavalcante scaled.
The prison tower guard on duty at the time of Cavalcante's escape was fired on Friday after 18 years as a corrections officer. He was initially put on administrative leave in the days following Cavalcante’s escape, which went undetected for more than an hour until guards took a headcount. The guard also had his personal cellphone on him at the time, a violation of jail protocol, said Chester County spokesperson Michelle Bjork.
At a news conference Monday, authorities defended their strategy so far in the search for Cavalcante and blamed the complex terrain in the initial perimeters for the fugitive's ability to elude them.
Top state and federal officials insisted that the perimeter around the area where hundreds had been searching for Cavalcante includes heavy woods, underground tunnels and drainage ditches. They also said it took more than two hours for news to reach them that he had been spotted outside of the perimeter for the first time.
Bivens on Tuesday continued to stand behind law enforcement's handling of the manhunt.
"Our people have done an amazing job, I'm very proud of the work that they've done and continue to do," he said. "Nothing has gone wrong, our agencies are working very well together and I believe we will be successful in the long run."
Christopher Cann is a breaking news reporter for USA TODAY. To contact him, email [email protected].
Contributing: Eric Lagatta, N'dea Yancey-Bragg; The Associated Press
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