Danelo Cavalcante: Escaped killer now armed after stealing rifle from garage, US police say
A convicted murderer on the run after breaking out of prison was shot at by a homeowner who found him in his garage stealing a rifle, US authorities said.
Hundreds of state and local police along with federal agents are searching for 34-year-old Brazilian Danelo Cavalcante following his escape from Chester County Prison in Pennsylvania on 31 August.
Police say they are closing in on the “desperate” and “dangerous” fugitive, who has armed himself with the rifle with a scope and torch attached.
Overnight into Tuesday, Cavalcante grabbed the .22-calibre firearm before he fled as the property owner fired several shots at him with a pistol in Chester County.
Cavalcante before his escape. Pic: Chester County District Attorney
Authorities have set up a six square mile (16 square kilometre) perimeter around the home in a wooded, hilly area where they believe Cavalcante still is.
The fugitive has disposed of a sweatshirt he was seen wearing on CCTV cameras and he is now believed to be shirtless, police say.
Residents of South Coventry have locked themselves in their houses and at least one school district has cancelled lessons.
Pennsylvania State Police said they were pursuing him in the Philadelphia suburb, about 20 miles north of the Chester County Prison.
Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens said: “We consider him desperate. We consider him dangerous.”
“He is desperate enough to use that weapon.”
Cavalcante escaped by crab-walking up a wall from the recreation yard, climbing over razor wire, running across a roof and jumping to the ground.
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Killer ‘crab-walks’ out of prison
His escape went undetected for more than an hour until guards took a head count. The tower guard on duty was sacked, officials said.
Police have warned people not to approach Cavalcante, but to call 911 if they see him.
Armed police stand guard as the search for Cavalcante continues. Pic: AP
On Monday, state and federal officials rejected allegations they had blown their chances of catching Cavalcante, saying the area where hundreds had been searching included deep 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 the perimeter for the first time.
Pic: AP
Pic: AP
Cavalcante slipped out of an eight-square-mile search area over the weekend and stole a dairy delivery van that had been left unlocked with the keys in it.
He abandoned it more than 20 miles north of the search area after unsuccessfully seeking help at the homes of two former colleagues late on Saturday, police said.
Escaped murderer has stolen a van and changed his appearance
Pic: AP
Pic: AP
Mr Bivens declined to say how he believes the fugitive slipped through the perimeter adding that no perimeter is completely secure.
“The fact that he has reached out to people with a very distant past connection tells me he doesn’t have a great network of support,” Mr Bivens said.
“I think the longer we push him, the more resources, the more tools we bring to bear, we will ultimately capture him. He doesn’t have what he needs to last long-term.”
Cavalcante broke out of the Chester County Prison while awaiting transfer to a state prison to serve a life sentence for fatally stabbing an ex-girlfriend in 2021.
Prosecutors say he killed her to stop her from telling police that he was wanted over murders in his home country of Brazil.
In Brazil, he is accused of “double qualified homicide” in the 2017 killing of Valter Junior Moreira dos Reis in the municipality of Figueiropolis, over a debt the victim owed him for repairing a vehicle.
That the United States chose to hold talks with Russia about Ukraine without Ukraine sums up the power imbalance that is upending security assumptions for the whole of Europe.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, has consistently warned that Kyiv must have a seat at the negotiating table for any discussions about ending Vladimir Putin‘s war to have a chance of success. His European allies also want to have a voice.
Yet these requests were ignored by Donald Trump and his strongman approach to diplomacy, with the president instead dispatching his top diplomat and two other senior envoys to meet Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
(L-R) The US delegation in Riyadh included Steve Witkoff, Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz. Pic: Reuters
Ukraine war latest: Trump says he’s ‘more confident’ of peace deal
Mr Zelenskyy, apparently by chance, had been due to embark on a pre-planned trip to the kingdom later that same day.
However, he decided to delay the visit to avoid the appearance of giving any kind of legitimacy to the bilateral encounter between Moscow and Washington.
Unfortunately for Kyiv, beyond noisy protest, it has very limited options when it comes to channelling the disruptive force of the Trump White House in its favour.
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The Ukrainian military remains hugely reliant on US weapons to fight Russia’s invasion and Mr Zelenskyy has made clear he would want an American element in any international security force that might be agreed upon to monitor a ceasefire – even though this is a role the US appears reluctant to fill and the Kremlin has said would be “unacceptable”.
It means Mr Trump has significant leverage over his Ukrainian counterpart which he will surely use to try to force through negotiations even on terms less favourable to Kyiv.
Read more:
Analysis – Russia tries to appeal to Trump’s business background
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Ukrainians react to US-Russia talks
The US has already reportedly tried to make Ukraine sign away a large portion of its natural resources to pay for US support – an uncomfortable offer that Mr Zelenskyy has so far declined but an indication of the new transactional approach to US foreign policy.
Mr Trump has repeatedly vowed to end Russia’s war in Ukraine – even claiming during the US election campaign that he would do this within 24 hours.
But he never spelled out how.
The past week, however, has offered an indication of the direction of travel and it does not look good for Ukraine.
From unilaterally picking up the phone to Vladimir Putin to sanctioning such a high-level meeting with the Russians in Riyadh, the only currency that seems to matter to the White House is power and right now both Kyiv and its European partners are looking all too weak.
The Duchess of Sussex has relaunched her lifestyle brand under a new name – and shared a rare picture of her daughter Lilibet.
Posting to her recently-created Instagram account, Meghan said she was “thrilled” to be changing the name of her American Riviera Orchard lifestyle brand to As Ever – a project which she “poured my heart into”.
As Ever’s website features an image of Lilibet running outside with her mother, surrounded by nature.
Meghan shares a rare picture of her daughter as she rebrands. Pic: As Ever
In the Instagram video post, Meghan, who married Prince Harry in 2018, says in the caption that As Ever “means ‘as it’s always been’ or some even say ‘in the same way as always’.
“If you’ve followed along since my days of creating The Tig, you’ll know this couldn’t be truer for me.
“This new chapter is an extension of what has always been my love language, beautifully weaving together everything I cherish – food, gardening, entertaining, thoughtful living, and finding joy in the everyday.”
Her Netflix show With Love, Meghan – which the streamer says “reimagines the genre of lifestyle” – launches in two weeks.
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Mindy Kaling spills the beans on Meghan’s cooking skills
Sussexes make surprise visit to hand out food to LA fires evacuees
The former Suits star returned to Instagram after four years on 1 January, when she appeared in a black and white video as she ran along a beach and wrote “2025” in the sand.
She followed it up the next day with the trailer for the upcoming Netflix show, with the message: “I have been so excited to share this with you! I hope you love the show as much as I loved making it.”
The launch of the show was delayed due to the devastating LA wildfires in January.
“I’m thankful to my partners at Netflix for supporting me in delaying the launch, as we focus on the needs of those impacted by the wildfires in my home state of California,” Meghan said at the time in a statement to Tudum, the official companion site to Netflix.
Meghan’s latest post before her video announcing As Ever was on Valentine’s Day, when she posted a picture of her and Harry kissing and said: “My love, I will eat burgers & fries and fish & chips with you forever. Thank you for you.”
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