DE Prison Hostage

http://www.wboc.com/story/34400206/delaware-prisons-on-lockdown-due-to-incident-at-vaughn-correctional-center

SMYRNA, Del. (WBOC/AP)- Correctional officers were taken hostage by inmates Wednesday inside James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna, putting all the state's prisons on lockdown as police swarmed the facility. It was not immediately clear how many correctional officers had been taken hostage.

According to Delaware State Police, numerous inmates took over the "C" building at the prison, barricading themselves inside. The "C" building houses over 100 inmates. Five Department of Corrections employees were taken hostage, and at this time police say one was released and has been taken to the hospital with injuries not threatening the officer's life.

According to DSP, the Department of Corrections, FBI and Delaware State Police are still on the scene.

DOC spokesperson Jayme Gravell initially stated that an emergency situation was reported at the Smyrna prison late Wednesday morning. The facility was placed on lockdown, as were all prisons in the state per DOC policy. Gravell provided few details but described the situation as an isolated incident, adding that there was no threat to the public.

WBOC Chopper 16 aerial video from above the prison shows uniformed officers gathered in two groups along fences near an entrance to the prison. Later, video showed several people surrounding a stretcher and running as they pushed it across the compound. It wasn't clear if a person was on the stretcher. People could be seen standing near a set of doors with an empty stretcher and wheelchair.

SMYRNA, Del. – Delaware State Police ruled the death of Correctional Officer Sgt. Steven Floyd a homicide by trauma Friday night.

Floyd was found dead early Thursday after authorities used a backhoe to smash through a barricade of footlockers and end a nearly 20-hour hostage standoff at the prison. A second hostage, a female counselor, was safely rescued minutes after tactical teams forced their way into a building at the all-male, 2,500-prisoner JTVCC.

Authorities would not go into detail regarding the exact cause of Floyd’s death; only to say the autopsy result reveals homicide by trauma.

Also Friday night, at approximately 10 p.m., Delaware State Police cleared the crime scene and turned Building "C" back over to the Delaware Department of Correction.

DSP homicide unit detectives, with the assistance of the Delaware Department of Correction, are handling the investigation into the death of Correctional Floyd, which occurred at the state's largest prison.

Because of the circumstances surrounding this tragic incident, this investigation is expected to be lengthy and arduous. Detectives are continuing to conduct interviews as well as collect and examine countless pieces of physical and video evidence.