GENEVA, Ill. (AP) — Authorities say an inmate who took nurses hostage at a suburban Chicago hospital was being treated for eating plastic off a jail uniform sandal.
Tywon M. Salters was fatally shot by police Saturday during the standoff at Delnor Hospital in Geneva. Kane County Coroner Rob Russell said Monday that the preliminary cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the head.
Salters was initially hospitalized May 8. Doctors surgically removed the plastic from his stomach. He was staying at the hospital.
Authorities say Salters managed to take a correctional officer’s gun and initially took one nurse hostage and then took a different nurse hostage after releasing the first one.
Negotiators tried to reason with Salters by phone, but were unsuccessful.
Authorities are investigating how Salters got the gun.
