Hostage dies in Smyrna prison siege

A 19-hour standoff at Delaware's largest prison ended Feb. 2 after police entered a prison building where four prison employees had been taken hostage. One employee was pronounced dead shortly after the siege ended; three others were taken to an area hospital for treatment.

Sgt. Steven Floyd, 47, a 16-year employee with the Department of Correction, was pronounced dead at 5:29 a.m. Feb. 2, about 20 minutes after officers broke into the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center building where hostages were held. Robert Coupe, secretary of the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, said officers found Floyd unresponsive in the prison's C Building after a tactical team forced its way into the facility. He would not provide details on how or when he died.

Floyd's body was taken to the medical examiner to determine the cause and manner of death.

“Prisons are very dangerous. Every day is dangerous,” Coupe said. “It shows how vulnerable we are.”

Geoff Klopp, president of the Correctional Officers Association of Delaware, described Floyd as passionate about his work and family. “He worked hard so his kids could go to college and be what they wanted to be,” he said.

In a press conference held mid-day Feb. 2, Klopp blamed the Markell administration for understaffing the prison, which led to Floyd’s death.

“We believe Sgt. Floyd’s death is due directly to staffing issues that have been going on with the Department of Correction through the Jack Markell administration for the last eight years,” he said. “We have brought these issues to light and we had absolutely no assistance from the previous governor.”

Klopp said prisoners have been testing and prodding to find weak points at the prison, and he expects problems to continue. 

A law enforcement tactical team made its move to end the siege about 5 a.m., using a backhoe to break down a back door to the building. Prisoners had filled footlockers with water to make a heavy barrier at the front entrance, Coupe said.

Once inside the building, Coupe said, the tactical team found a woman counselor who was in good condition, and they removed her from the building.

“There were inmates who shielded her and ensured her safety,” he said.

Department of Correction Commissioner Perry Phelps was visibly upset as he announced Floyd's death. Officers secured C Building three minutes after Floyd was pronounced dead, he said.

“This is a very sad day across the state of Delaware with the loss of one of our brave officers,” said Gov. John Carney. “These brave men and women go to work every day knowing they might not come home, as do their families.”

Carney ordered flags across the state to fly at half staff. He said he is committed to find out the facts of what happened and make sure it never happens again. “We will leave no stone unturned,” he said.

Coupe said the 120 prisoners who were in C Building during the takeover are all considered suspects. He said some prisoners had sharp instruments, but he had no further details. The prisoners were removed from C Building and placed in new cells. He said all prisoners are alive, and none were reported injured.

Coupe said investigators are going cell-by-cell collecting evidence, and appropriate charges will be filed against those found responsible for the hostage siege.

Coupe said a negotiation team communicated with an inmate who used a correction officer's radio transmitter.

Unbeknownst to negotiators at the time, a scanner feed of the live negotiations was heard by outside observers using a downloadable scanner app. One woman who listened to the scanner said she heard negotiators speaking to one man before the feed was disconnected. Coupe said the feed was stopped when police realized it was being broadcast.

The siege began about 10:30 a.m. Feb. 1 when a prison employee called in a major disturbance in the building that houses medium- and high-risk prisoners. Prisoners in C Building are transitioning to higher security because of a violation or they are moving into less restrictive imprisonment, Coupe said.

Siege unfolds

Law enforcement assembled at the prison throughout the day.

The first hostage was released at about 2:40 p.m. and taken to an area hospital for nonlife-threatening injuries. A second employee was released prior to the 8 p.m. press conference; the employee's condition has not been released.

At 8 p.m., two prison employees were still being held hostage by an undetermined number of prisoners. Those prisoners contacted a Wilmington newspaper saying they were protesting President Donald Trump, and they demanded better education and treatment within the prison.

On a Twitter thread named #Vaughnrebellion, the prisoners' demands were posted:

“We’re trying to explain the reasons is for doing what we’re doing. Donald Trump. Everything that he did. All the things that he’s doing now. We know that the institution is going to change for the worse. We got demands that you need to pay attention to, that you need to listen to and you need to let them know. Education, we want education first and foremost. We want a rehabilitation program that works for everybody. We want the money to be allocated so we can know exactly what is going on in the prison, the budget.”

Neither Phelps or Coupe would comment on the prisoners' demands or their motives.

Coupe said eight prisoners were released from C Building at 5:20 p.m. and 19 more were released before the evening press conference. He said he did not know whether those prisoners were hostages or left on their own accord.

At 12:30 a.m., officials said, 14 more prisoners were released, leaving 82 prisoners and two employees hostage until officers freed them.

The Department of Correction continues to operate under emergency procedures but C Building is secure, Gravell said.

Correction Commissioner Phelps would not say whether Vaughn center was understaffed at the time hostages were taken.

“We are constantly recruiting to fill our vacancies,” he said, without saying how many prison positions are vacant.

Coupe said he believes staffing levels were sufficient on Feb. 1. Across the state, he said, DOC is short about 90 correction officers on any given day. Vacancies are filled by employees working overtime.

“When we are shortstaffed we compensate with overtime,” he said.

Phelps would not comment on whether Vaughn center is overcrowded with prisoners.

Rep. Steve Smyk, R-Milton, a member of the corrections committee for the House of Representatives, said committee members are aware there has been an increase in assaults at Vaughn center and a decrease in funding for prison guards.

“This could’ve been avoided, and it makes me sick,” he said. “I want to make sure our new governor makes this a priority.”

Vaughn center is Delaware’s largest correctional facility for men, with about 2,500 inmates. The facility opened in 1971 and houses minimum, medium, and maximum security inmates, and inmates on death row. It also houses Kent County detainees awaiting trial.

Violence against prison employees is not uncommon at Vaughn center.

In 2010, a prisoner stabbed one guard with a homemade knife before assaulting a second guard. In 2004, a prison counselor was raped and held hostage at Vaughn by a man serving a nearly 700-year sentence. The prisoner, Scott Miller, was shot and killed after a 6 1/2 hour standoff. The counselor later sued DOC for its lack of security and received a $1.6 million settlement in 2006.

Klopp, of the Correctional Officers Association of Delaware, said there was an incident a week ago in which a prisoner squirted fluid on a correction officer. Although it turned out to only be water, Klopp said, prisoners frequently throw body fluids or feces at officers.