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WILKES-BARRE — Two people died Monday evening inside the Luzerne County Correctional Facility — an inmate and a prison guard — according to Luzerne County Manager David Pedri.
The two died after a brief altercation that took place at about 6:25 p.m., Pedri said at a news conference late Monday night.
Pedri identified the inmate as Timothy Gilliam, 27. Pedri said he believed Gilliam had been incarcerated for failing to register under Megan’s Law, for sex offenders.
Pedri said the name of the prison guard was not being released at the request of his family.
“This guard went to work today believing that he would be coming home,” Pedri said. “And, sadly that didn’t happen.”
He called the incident a “sad and tragic.”
“We will do everything in our power to ensure an incident like this never happens again,” he said.
According to Pedri, who declined to comment on the specifics of the incident, the matter was under investigation by the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office and Pennsylvania State Police.
When asked about Mark Rockovich, the new correctional division head, Pedri said Monday was his first day on the job.
Luzerne County Councilman Tim McGinley, who was on site shortly after the incident occurred, said any suspect death would be of concern to the county, noting that the county spends $30 million on the facility annually.
Michele Rohrbaugh, whose son Michael is an inmate on the fifth floor of the facility, came for a visit at about 7 p.m. and was told by prison staff that there would be no visit because the prison was on lockdown.
Rohrbaugh stood outside of the prison for over three hours, hoping to hear her son was safe.
After the press conference, she made her way from council chambers visibly relieved.
“It wasn’t him,” she said. “It wasn’t my son.”
Rohrbaugh said she recently had heard that gang activity at the prison was on the rise. She also said she was concerned with her son’s safety.
Some prison guards have been complaining for months about security and safety concerns at the main prison, located on Water Street.
Prison officials have been wrestling with an increase in inmate assaults and fighting — problems that have been blamed on a rise in inmates who are addicted to drugs, battling mental health issues and involved in gangs.
The main prison has been at or over its 505-inmate capacity in recent years.
In April, county officials investigated the hospitalization of a prison inmate for a serious cut above his right ear down into his neck.
Prison officials said they suspected the man was assaulted by another inmate, but the inmate continues to maintain he cut himself when he fell off the top metal bunk bed in his cell, officials said as recently as last week.
One guard, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Monday night that he and many of his colleagues blame Pedri and prison deputy Warden James Larson for not taking their safety concerns seriously.
Larson has been acting as correctional services division head since April 1, following the March resignation of prior prison overseer J. Allen Nesbitt in March.
The county council unanimously voted last week to confirm Pedri’s nomination of Rockovich as the new correctional division head.
Rockovich, who has worked at the prison since 1991, assured the council he will address problems at the facility, including work release.
Federal authorities recently charged former prison employee Louis Elmy with extortion and possession of a firearm in furtherance of selling crack cocaine.
Prosecutors said Elmy, while acting in his official role as a prison work-release counselor, extorted money and other items of value from work release inmates in exchange for giving them special privileges and unauthorized furloughs.
The resolution appointing Rockovich was to take effect six days after adoption, which means Monday was his first day in the new position.
County Councilman Eugene Kelleher in March questioned delays in repairing malfunctioning security cameras at the prison and other safety concerns raised by at least 10 past and present staffers who had contacted him.
The aging facility has more nooks and crannies than a modern prison because it is five stories.
“I’m really concerned about security at the prison for employees,” Kelleher said at the time.
The administration said it was addressing the cameras.
Editors Note: This article has been edited to reflect the correct identity of the deceased inmate.