Guard killed at Delaware prison during 20-hour hostage standoff with rioting inmates was a hero who saved his colleagues' lives as he died

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 Sergeant Steven Floyd, 47, was found dead on Thursday when police stormed Building C of the Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna to bring an end to the violent siege

A veteran guard killed during a 20-hour hostage situation at Delaware's largest prison was a hero who saved the lives of his fellow officers trying to come to his aid by warning them that inmates had set a trap.

Sergeant Steven Floyd, 47, was found dead on Thursday when police stormed Building C of the Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna to bring an end to the violent siege.

He had been forced into a closet by inmates but called out to the officers trying to help him - inevitably saving their lives with his final actions, according to the head of the state corrections officers' union.

'Even in his last moments as the inmates attempted to take over the building, Sgt Floyd told a couple of lieutenants to get out of the building and that it was a trap,' union President Geoffrey Klopp said. 

Police had to use a backhoe to smash through a barricade of footlockers to end the 20-hour hostage standoff. 

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 jail. 

Police searched Delaware prison inmates in the yard after they found an officer dead inside the building on Thursday morning following a 20-hour hostage situation 

Floyd, pictured with his wife Saundra, had been working at the prison for 16 years. He has been described by colleagues as an 'outstanding officer'

Authorities did not immediately explain how Floyd died. They have said the inmates used 'sharp instruments' to seize Building C and hold Floyd hostage along with two other prison guards and a counselor. 

Klopp said inmates staged a fight to lure Floyd, who radioed for help. They then turned on him, forcing him into the closet.

Inmates staged a fight to lure Floyd, who radioed for help. They then turned on him and forced him into a closet 

The inmates eventually released two hostages and got authorities to turn the water back on, saying they needed it for drinking and washing. Instead, they filled up metal footlockers and built barricades.

During negotiations conducted via an officer's walkie-talkie - which were broadcast online for more than an hour before officials blocked the transmission - the mediator tried to coax an unidentified inmate into letting him talk to Floyd to make sure he was okay.

The inmate responded that the negotiator would only be able to talk to Floyd once the inmates got to talk to Delaware Governor John Carney. He told the negotiator that the prisoners wanted a 'formal apology' from Carney for 'decades of oppression.'

Floyd, a 16-year veteran with the prison, is the first Delaware corrections officer to be killed, according to Klopp.

The union president described Floyd as a wonderful husband and correctional officer who went the 'extra mile for any human being he could help.' Last year, he received the warden's award for outstanding performance.

Geoffrey Klopp (center), of the Correctional Officers Association of Delaware, said Floyd saved the lives of fellow officers trying to come to his aid by warning them inmates had set a trap

After authorities found the guard dead inside the Vaughn Correctional Center building, they took the inmates to the yard to search them all individually

Dave Dowty, a retired court-transportation worker for the Department of Correction, said he occasionally worked with Floyd.

'I just know he was a pretty good guy. He was quiet, professional,' Dowty told the Associated Press.

Former Vaughn Correctional Center inmate Kenneth Guinn, of Dover, had a low opinion of Floyd.

'He harassed inmates. He's been doing it for years,' Guinn said.

The others guards who were taken hostage were beaten severely by their captors and suffered broken bones, cuts and eye injuries, Klopp said. Authorities said their injuries were not life-threatening.

It wasn't immediately clear how many inmates took part in the uprising. About 120 were in the building when it began, but dozens were let out as the standoff dragged on. Authorities said all inmates who were in the building are being considered suspects.

One inmate told a local newspaper via phone that they were demanding better education and rehabilitation programs and were also upset over President Donald Trump and 'all the things that he's doing now.'

'We know that the institution is going to change for the worse,' he told The News Journal in Wilmington.

Four guards were taken hostage at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna, Delaware at 10.30am on Wednesday

Mounted police patrol travel along Smyrna Landing Road alongside the Vaughn Corrections Center on Thursday after the 20-hour hostage standoff was brought to an end

Isaiah McCoy, a former death row inmate at the Delaware prison, says the prisoners were protesting what he called 'inhumane' conditions at the facility.

McCoy says several inmates who were in the building called him while a standoff was underway and told him they are tired of the 'oppression' and 'misconduct' at the facility.

McCoy would not say whether the inmates he spoke to were the hostage-takers or were just in Building C at the time. He would not provide the names of any of the inmates.

He says the inmates' nonviolent means of raising their concerns haven't been effective.

McCoy, who was released from prison in January after being acquitted of all charges in a retrial for a drug-related killing, said he served about 5 1/2 years at the Vaughn Correctional Center.

Delaware Governor John Carney called the uprising a 'torturous' ordeal. In a statement, he said authorities will hold accountable those responsible and 'make whatever changes are necessary to ensure nothing like it ever happens again.'