Illinois Prisoner Fatally Shot after Standoff; Hostages File Lawsuit
On May 13, 2017, police shot and killed Kane County jail prisoner Tywon M. Salters at the Delnor Hospital in Geneva after he took first one and then another nurse hostage while recovering from surgery. The nurses filed suit against Kane County, a jail guard and the hospital’s security contractor less than two weeks after the incident.
According to the lawsuit, Salters was initially brought to the hospital on May 7 after drinking hydrogen peroxide. Medical staff noted he was “combative,” but he was treated and returned to the jail where he was placed on suicide watch. On May 8, Salters managed to swallow pieces of a jail-issued plastic sandal and drink liquid cleaning solution, requiring doctors to perform stomach surgery.
The nurses claim that at the time of the May 13 incident, jail guard Shawn Loomis left Salters unshackled. He somehow managed to disarm Loomis, ran down the hall and took the first nurse hostage in an office. A second nurse entered and was able to activate the hospital’s emergency alert system; she then persuaded Salters to take her to an isolated room away from other staff and patients.
Salters, armed with a gun, held her for three hours; he reportedly beat, abused and raped her while negotiators tried to speak with him through the door. According to the suit, when a SWAT team entered and opened fire at Salters, at least one bullet struck his hostage.
Attorney Sean Murray, who filed the civil rights action in federal court on May 25, 2017, said the two nurses – identified as Jane Doe I and II – are seeking unspecified damages and want Kane County and the hospital’s security firm to improve their practices. He added that Salters’ record “should have triggered some sort of heightened protocol within the Kane County sheriff’s system while detaining Mr. Salters at the hospital. However, the opposite happened.”
Source: www.dailyherald.com
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