NEW YORK, June 26 (Xinhua) -- One of the two inmates who escaped from a maximum-security prison in upstate New York earlier this month was shot dead by police Friday afternoon.

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo told a news conference in the evening that a law enforcement officer spotted, shot and killed a man believed to be Clinton Correctional Facility escapee Richard Matt, while the other escapee David Sweat is still on the run.

After receiving a report that a camper vehicle had been struck by gunfire, police officers began a search and came upon a cabin with a smell of gunpowder inside, according to officials.

A tactical team from U.S. Customs and Border Protection that had helicoptered in finally met up with Matt and challenged him. "He was shot when he didn't comply," officials said.

It was not clear whether Sweat was with Matt at the time, but he has not been spotted, and is still being tracked down, Cuomo said.

Matt and Sweat are believed to have escaped through a hole in the back of their cells, which are made of steel.

According to local media reports, it's now believed that power tools smuggled in a frozen chunk of hamburger meat allowed the pair to construct an elaborate escape route.

Two days after the escape, Joyce Mitchell, a civilian prison employee, was accused of being an accomplice.

According to the police, Sweat was serving a life sentence after his conviction in the shooting death of a Broome County Sheriff's deputy on July 4, 2002.

Matt was convicted in the 1997 torture, murder and dismemberment of his boss in Tonawanda, New York, and was sentenced to 25 years to life.