A Monday night sighting of the convicted killer Danelo Cavalcante who escaped from an eastern Pennsylvania prison nearly two weeks ago, jolted the surrounding community into high alert and prompted school closures Tuesday, after police warned the inmate now has a weapon, CNN reports.
The latest sighting of 34-year-old Danelo Cavalcante, the first one reported since Saturday – brings a heightened sense of danger as the search enters its 13th day Tuesday.
According to CNN report, the fugitive Danelo Cavalcante was spotted in Chester County’s South Coventry Township, about 20 miles north of the county prison he escaped from, according to an emergency alert sent by Chester County officials Monday night to area residents via email and text message.
“Residents in the area are asked to lock all external doors and windows, secure vehicles, and remain indoors,” the alert read, adding that there were reports of the fugitive in the area of Ridge, Coventryville and Daisy Point roads, “possibly armed with a weapon.”
Pennsylvania State Police later said on Facebook around 1:38 a.m. ET they were “pursuing” Cavalcante in the South Coventry Township, and that he “is armed with a weapon.” The post did not say how authorities knew he was armed or what kind of weapon he had.
A man who fits Cavalcante’s description stole a gun before shots were fired during the Monday night sighting, sources told CNN affiliate KYW.
A resident reported a gun stolen during a confrontation, and it remains unclear if the man was hit when the homeowner fired shots, KYW reported. The weapon is a .22 caliber rifle, sources told KYW and CNN affiliate WPVI.
Chester County reported a shooting incident Monday night around 10:10 pm.
Shoes that are believed to belong to Danelo Cavalcante were also found overnight, WPVI reported.
Video from WPVI shows a massive police response in the South Coventry Township overnight, with dozens of patrol cars and an armored vehicle converging on the scene.
While few details about Monday night’s sighting were immediately released, it was the first time authorities said Cavalcante might be armed – though he has repeatedly been described as dangerous. Police are expected to provide an update on the search around 9:30 Tuesday morning.
Owen J. Roberts School District in Chester County announced it would be closed Tuesday, as a result of increased police activity, according to a statement on the district’s website. Neighboring Downingtown Area School District did not close Tuesday, but four of its schools will remain indoors, the district wrote in a Facebook post.
The Unionville-Chadds Ford School District and Kennett Consolidated School District both closed for multiple days last week due to the search but are now open.
Danelo Cavalcante was being held at Chester County Prison, in a rural area some 30 miles west of Philadelphia, following his conviction last month of first-degree murder for the killing of his former girlfriend, 33-year-old Deborah Brandão. He escaped from custody August 31, launching the dayslong manhunt.
Before Monday night, no sightings of Cavalcante had been reported since the weekend, when authorities say he slipped through a police search perimeter. Police say he stole a van, changed his appearance and showed up Saturday at the homes of people he knew years ago, more than 20 miles outside the search perimeter. He then ditched the vehicle in a field East Nantmeal Township and vanished, authorities said.
The weekend’s developments shifted the search for police, who had previously been focused on a search perimeter that included a botanical garden – just a few miles from the prison – where he was sighted multiple times.
Despite the shifting search areas, all reported sightings of Cavalcante so far have happened in Chester County.
On Saturday evening, Cavalcante appeared at the East Pikeland Township home of an acquaintance he’d known several years ago, Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said in a Sunday news conference.
He spoke with the acquaintance on a Ring doorbell camera, which captured his new clean-shaven look, but the person wasn’t home and did not respond to meet Cavalcante, Bivens said.
Cavalcante then tried to contact another acquaintance in the nearby Phoenixville area. That person was also not home but called police after a female resident saw the escaped inmate, according to Bivens.
“He needs additional help. He needs resources for the long run, and he is seeking those,” Bivens said in a news conference Monday afternoon.
While Cavalcante has so far managed to evade the hundreds of officers looking for him, police have said they don’t believe he’ll be able to cross state lines.
“I don’t believe he has the resources to get out of Pennsylvania,” Bivens said.
How Danelo Cavalcante has managed to stay on the run so long
Cavalcante left the prison by “crab-walking” between two walls, scaling a fence and traversing across razor wire and heading into the forest.
Despite several sightings since then, police have said they’ve faced challenges as the unusually long search for Cavalcante dragged on – an effort one official has described as “tactical hide and seek.”
“We conduct fugitive investigations every day of the year across this commonwealth … most don’t lead to a protracted search like this,” Bivens said Monday.
Most escaped prisoners are captured within 24 hours, and most of them within two miles, CNN’s chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller said.