The News Journal
11/16/2004
Restrictions have been lifted at the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution after a determination was made that a suspicious letter found at the prison this morning was not hazardous, prison officials said.
State Department of Correction spokeswoman Gail Stallings Minor said the facility returned to normal operations at 2 p.m.
The prison was locked down at 10:20 a.m., with prisoners confined to their cells, after a suspicious envelope was discovered in an internal mailbox in the prison’s administrative area at 12th and Bowers streets.
The envelope, found during routine mail distribution, contained a white powder with a pink tint, Minor said. A threatening message was written on the envelope.
Emergency procedures were activated and state police and officers from the state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control were called to the prison to investigate. All visitors were escorted out of the building and prisoners were placed in lockdown, she said.
A determination was made that the suspicious substance was not hazardous or dangerous, Minor said. The powder, which is being analyzed, has not yet been identified.
“We have not determined what it is, but it is not toxic,” Minor said.
The lockdown was lifted at the prison at 12:55 p.m. Prison visits will resume this afternoon, Minor said.
See complete coverage Wednesday in The News Journal and at www.delawareonline.com. Reach Terri Sanginiti at 324-2771 or tsanginiti@delawareonline.com.
