Thursday marks 20 years since a New York State Trooper narrowly survived an encounter with one of the most notorious fugitives in state history.
Trooper Sean Brown was shot in the stomach by escaped inmate Ralph Bucky Phillips.
He was treated at the hospital and later returned to duty that summer.
This incident intensified the manhunt for Philips, who escaped the Erie County Correction Facility a month earlier.
Months later, Phillips was eventually captured in Warren County, Pennsylvania and pleaded guilty to shooting Brown.
Chemung County Executive Chris Moss was the sheriff at the time.
He says even after the shooting of Brown, few could have anticipated the summer ahead.
“He left the area so quickly,” Moss said. “Once we knew he was gone from the area and we knew he had some survivalist skills, self-proclaimed anyway, we knew if he could get to the woods, it could take a while. I don’t think anybody thought it would take four to five months.”
Phillips is currently serving a life sentence in Midstate Correctional after pleading guilty to the murder of Trooper Joseph Longobardo, a native of Saratoga County and shooting his partner, Donald Baker.
Baker survived his injuries.