Independent reviewers releasing report on deadly prison riot

Independent reviewers releasing report on deadly prison riot | iNFOnews.ca
FILE - In this Feb. 1, 2017 file photo, the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center near Smyrna, Del., remains on lockdown following a riot. Delaware has charged 18 inmates in the deadly riot and hostage-taking at the state’s maximum-security prison, most of them on murder charges, according to an indictment that was made public Tuesday, Oct. 17. The riot resulted in the murder of Lieutenant Steven Floyd, injuries to Correctional Officers Winslow Smith and Joshua Wilkinson, and the kidnapping of counselor Patricia May. (Suchat Pederson /The Wilmington News-Journal via AP, File)

WILMINGTON, Del. – An independent review team is releasing its final report on a deadly inmate uprising and hostage-taking at Delaware’s maximum-security prison.

The report to be released Friday was ordered by Gov. John Carney after inmates seized a building at Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna in February and took several prison workers hostage, setting off a standoff lasting nearly 20 hours.

Correctional officer Steven Floyd was killed before authorities used a backhoe to breach a wall and rescue a female counsellor. Two other guards who were taken hostage had been released earlier after being tormented and beaten by inmates.

In a preliminary report released in June, the independent reviewers described the Vaughn facility as dangerously overcrowded, critically understaffed, and poorly run and managed.

A criminal investigation into the incident is still ongoing.

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