Delnor Hospital hostage standoff ends with inmate shot to death

A standoff at Delnor Hospital in west suburban Geneva ended after an inmate who took two hospital employees hostage was shot to death by a SWAT team officer.

Kane County sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Pat Gengler said 22-year-old Tywon M. Salters, of Chicago, had been receiving treatment at the hospital since May 8 after being taken into custody on a charge of possession of a stolen vehicle by the Elgin Police Department.

The incident started about 12:30 p.m., according to a statement from the city of Geneva, and ended about 5 p.m.

Salters was at the hospital for surgery, a hospital worker told the Sun-Times. When he woke up, he knocked out a Kane County Jail correctional officer who was guarding him and took his gun.

Two employees on the hospital’s nursing staff were taken hostage inside a room in the emergency room area, authorities said. The situation was contained to that room, with a SWAT team and crisis negotiators on the scene.

Police evacuated the rest of the emergency room area, but other patients remained in their rooms, Gengler said.

When negotiations with Salters deteriorated, SWAT members entered the hospital room, according to a statement from Illinois State Police. During entry, a SWAT officer fired their weapon, striking Salters, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

State police will investigate the use of force, according to the statement. An autopsy was expected Sunday by the Kane County coroner’s office.

Salters was booked into the Kane County Jail on March 11 and ordered held on $75,000 bail, according to jail records.

Contributing: Matthew Hendrickson