A guard opened fire in a federal prison Wednesday as agents tried to arrest him and five others in a sex-with-inmates scandal, sparking a gunfight that left him and a federal agent dead.
Federal agents shot and killed Ralph Hill, 43, a guard for 12 years at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee. William Sentner, 44, an agent with the Justice Department’s inspector general’s office, died in the exchange of bullets.
Sentner, a former member of the Secret Service, was part of the team that had traveled to Tallahassee to serve arrest warrants on the guards, who had been charged were indicted Tuesday.
An unidentified corrections officer who was helping the agents was injured in the gun battle and was in stable condition, authorities said.
The shootout began at 7:42 a.m., authorities said, as the federal agents arrived to arrest Hill and five other guards as they ended their overnight shifts.
The indictment charges that since 2002 the guards conspired to smuggle contraband, possibly including marijuana and alcohol, into the prison’s wing for women. They then allegedly sold it or exchanged it for sex with inmates.
The FBI and Justice agents confronted Hill just outside a small detention center. Hill surprised them by opening fire with his personal weapon, authorities said.
Federal prison employees are prohibited from bringing weapons into lockups, said Michael Folmar, the FBI’s agent in charge. He wouldn’t say whether metal detectors are used to screen personnel entering the facility.
Folmar said the arrests’ timing was intended to reduce the risk of violence by catching them by surprise.
“These guards were unaware of these indictments today,” Folmar said.
Authorities said the other guards charged are Alfred Barnes, Gregory Dixon, Vincent Johnson, Alan Moore and E. Lavon Spence.
All five guards pleaded not guilty.
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