By Bond Robertson 
Convicted killer Danilo Cavalcanti, 34, has been on the run since he managed to sneak out of a Pennsylvania prison on August 31.
After a sustained police chase, involving more than 500 police officers, he has now been arrested.
During a press conference, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro stated that the arrest occurred just after 8 a.m. local time.
– I want to start by saying thank God that no police officers or civilians were injured, says Shapiro.
Changed appearance
That’s how he was arrested
The police stated, during the press conference, that the 34-year-old was discovered at around one o’clock on Wednesday night by a helicopter that searched the area with heat signals.
Tactical police forces then surrounded the area where the heat source was observed, before intervening.
Police spokesman George Bivins says the fugitive did not know he was surrounded until this happened, but that did not prevent him from trying to escape.
One team fired a police dog at him, and the dog knocked him to the ground, Bivens says.
Cavalcanti is said to have suffered minor injuries during the arrest.
“Very dangerous”
After Cavalcanti managed to escape from prison, the police came out and warned about what they described as an armed and very dangerous man.
Cavalcanti was sentenced to life in prison for murder on August 16, after he stabbed his ex-girlfriend to death in April 2021 in front of her two minor children. He is also suspected of murder in his native Brazil in 2017.
After only two weeks, he managed to escape from the Chester County Jail near Philadelphia in the United States, where he was sitting waiting to be transferred to another prison.
Police spokeswoman Maria Bivins informed CNN The fugitive will remain in police custody “for a period” and a medical evaluation will be conducted before he is returned to prison.
Convicts convicted of fugitive murder: – desperate and dangerous
Observed several times
The 34-year-old was shown fleeing in a number of surveillance images from the Philadelphia suburbs. According to police, photos showed him stealing clothes, food and a pickup truck, in addition to shaving his beard in prison.
On Monday of this week, he allegedly broke into a parking garage in the city’s west and stole a hunting rifle. It is said that the owner of the house discovered him and shot him, but he escaped unharmed.