At the same prison a councillor was taken hostage and raped for almost seven hours at the same prison in 2004. Building C includes inmates being disciplined for infractions. The inmate who called The News Journal said there were “a lot” of hostage takers and ticked off a list of demands, which, as The News Journal described, “sounded rather as a hodgepodge of five-dollar words meant to give the impression of a manifesto or decree”. Authorities said their injuries were not life-threatening. Hours later another correction employee. It was unclear what weapons the inmates had. Coupe said that once the takeover was resolved peacefully, “a dialogue can start then”. “The other prison employees were rescued”, reported the Officer Down Memorial page. Officials say that officer is being treated for unknown injuries. All of a sudden, a man was patched onto the line, telling the News Journal that he was asked by hostage takers to relay their demands.
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During a press conference Thursday, which started with a moment of silence in remembrance of Floyd, the union president said the siege began when inmates staged a fight.
It was not immediately clear how many inmates took part in the disturbance.
The Smyrna prison was the site of another hostage situation back in 2004. Other officers responded to help, and the employees were taken hostage, he said. The mother told the paper that her son was among the hostages.
A 16-year veteran correctional officer remembered for his professionalism was named as the only hostage to die in a DE prison riot. During negotiations conducted for a while via an officer’s walkie-talkie, the inmates released two hostages and got authorities to turn the water back on, saying they needed it for drinking and washing. “Bridging the gap between JTVCC and society create a systematic appreciation of remedies conducive to reform and rehabilitation”, the inmate says in the recording.
Sgt. Steven Floyd Sr. was remembered Thursday as a family man and dedicated corrections officer.
Details of the situation were scarce, but Geoff Klopp, President of the Correctional Officers Association of DE, reportedly said three to five correctional officers had been taken hostage.
Delaware Gov. John Carney said flags in Delaware will be flown at half-staff and vowed to leave “no stone unturned” in the investigation.
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A prison guard was found dead early Thursday as police began clearing a building in a prison that had been seized by prisoners almost 24 hours earlier in the eastern US state of Delaware.
