December 29, 1999
Web posted at: 5:20 a.m. EST (1020 GMT)

ANGOLA, Louisiana (CNN) -- A prison guard and an inmate were killed, and a second prisoner wounded, after a failed escape attempt from the Louisiana State Penitentiary Tuesday night, the warden said.

Warden Burl Cain told CNN six inmates attempted to break out of the prison, located northwest of Baton Rouge, through the education building. He said when they realized they couldn't get out, the inmates grabbed three guards as hostages.

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Cain said the inmates tried to grab the keys from Guard Capt. David Knapp. They began beating him with their hands, and then a hammer, when he refused to give the keys up. Knapp was killed. "He's a martyr and a hero," Cain said. "He gave up his life rather than give up his keys."

Guards fired stun grenades into the classroom where the inmates were holed up, about two hours after the situation began. Cain says guards began shooting when two of the inmates tried to get away. One was shot several times and died at the scene. The second was seriously wounded, and taken by ambulance to a hospital in Baton Rouge.

The warden said the inmates may have been inspired by another Lousiana prison hostage situation earlier this month. "They said to me, 'We might as well do what they did in St. Martinville," Cain told CNN.

In that incident, eight federal detainees from Cuba and the Bahamas took hostages for six days at the parish jail.

Cain talked to the inmates during the stand-off. He said they demanded to talk to federal agents, but the prison refused. "We told them we don't negotiate, and we're going to take back our people."

The other two guards were not injured. Guards recaptured the other four inmates without further incident.

Knapp, 49, was a 12-year veteran guard at the prison. The name of the inmate killed has not been released.

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