roit right now, this afternoon a procession brought the body of steven floyd from the correctional center to the medical examiner's office. the head of delaware's correctional officer's union says floyd was a hero. >> even in his last moments, as the inmates attempts to take over the building, sergeant floyd told a couple lieutenants to get out of the building and that it was a trap. >> he says floyd's warning saved his fellow officers' lives. today we got a better understanding of what happened inside the prison during the standoff. officials saying around 11:00 last night. three maintenance workers who were hiding in the basement escaped through the roof. but around 5:00 this morning when negotiators couldn't get any information about floyd, officers decided to knock down the door with a back hoe. a woman who worked as a counselor was freed. she was okay. but they found floyd

unresponsive on the floor. >> these brave men and women go to work every day knowing that they may not come home. we owe them an incredible debt of gratitude. >> nbc 10 is bringing you live team coverage tonight. we'll begin with nbc 10's randy gyllenhaal who is getting reaction to sergeant floyd's death. randy? >> reporter: and this is not the outcome that this community was hoping for. as the prison siege unfolded for nearly 24 hours, locals at the smyrna diner followed every update. >> it's just bad that it a death had to come out of it. >> reporter: front page news, this tiny community is heart broken for the prison guard who lost his life. >> everybody wants to know what they can do and how they can help the sergeant's family. in the time of need like they have. >> reporter: strangers lined the

street as sergeant floyd's body was transported by motorcade. in smyrna most people have friends or family that work at the prison. >> we have frinends that work here too. >> reporter: questions about why this happened some clues came from the inmates themselves. during the siege they called a local newspaper complaining about abusive treatment and asking for more education. >> treat them fair. and firm. but just don't let them take advantage of you. >> reporter: but robert watson, a retired prison guard who worked here for 28 years, says those inmates had other options like meeting with prison staff, instead of a hostile takeover. >> they usually take a group of inmates, you know, talk to them try to resolve the problem. >> reporter: he says it's clear tensions have been growing for years. >> you hear off and on the, you know, different stuff, so i think it's been going -- something waiting to happen.

>> reporter: back here live at the prison, we know investigators continue to comb through the cell blocks for any kind of evidence. meanwhile the town continues to mourn. i spoke with the mayor today. she says the union and the town are planning a vigil tomorrow at the municipal park. that will be tomorrow night, 6:00 p.m. live in smyrna, randy gyllenhaal, nbc 10 news. the union for corrections officers at the prison is partially blaming staffing issues for the deadly incident. state officials admitted they're deal ing with staffing challenges at this time. let's go to rosemary connors who is live in dover this evening looking into that part of this story. rosemary? >> reporter: jim, specifically the union president is pointing the finger at delaware's last governor. we did reach out to him today, but he has yet to respond to the allegations. the union believes that the sergeant's death should never have happened. >> i can't say it was inevitabiliinevitable

but i can say it was preventible. >> reporter: the president laid blame on the former mayor. >> we've been asking for help. from the previous governor. and we got none. >> reporter: flanked by fellow officers of sergeant steven floyd. they claim that understaffing at the prison is directly linked to the sergeant's death. according to the union president, inmates had been practicing the takeover. >> just to test to see what's going to happen and how we respond so then they can make adjustments for what they think they may want to do in the future. >> reporter: the secretary of safety and homeland security admits that state wide prisons are short staffed. >> we have minimum staffing levels, often times we fill those positions with overtime. >> reporter: sergeant floyd was working an overtime shift when he died. >> he cared about his family,

his grand kids, his kids. he worked hard so his kids could go to college. and they could be what they wanted to be. >> reporter: sergeant floyd is being hailed as both a family man and a hero. as we've been talking about, he told responding lieutenants to get out of the building because he thought that inmates were setting a trap for them. they left, they did make it out safely. the sergeant stayed inside. reporting live in dover, i'm rosemary connors, nbc 10 news. saving lives, thank you. we sent nbc 10 investigator george spencer to dig into the staffing issues. he is back in our nbc 10 studios. george, what have you learned about a shortage of prison workers in the state? by its own admission, delaware's department of corrections has some 90 vacancies for corrections officers across the state. as you've heard, critics believe those staffing gaps actually led to sergeant floyd's death. so we've been researching what proper staffing would actually

look like. the u.s. department of justice says there is no blanket staff to inmate ratio requirement or even suggestion. because there's so much variety from prison to prison. corrections officers unions across the country have supported a ratio of three inmates for every one staffer as being desirable. we don't know how many officers were working at vaughan yesterday. across all of delaware's prisons there are about 7,000 inmates, with about 1,700 total corrections officers. we can confirm that delaware's ratio is more than four inmates for every one officer. that ratio in delaware is closer to the staffing levels in some federal prisons as recently as 2015. at that time, the bureau of prisons director told congress such numbers were a significant challenge to operating his prisons safely. we know that union leaders down in delaware believe the numbers presented publicly today

understate the scope of the problem. they believe with tens of millions of dollars in corrections overtime last year, the vacancy rate is much higher than we're being told. for the investigators, george spencer nbc 10 news. something to keep looking into, georgie. this isn't the first hostage situation at this prison. nbc 10 learned in 2004 an inmate took a prison counselor hostage and sexually asosaulted her. after seven hours officers shot and killed the inmate. the latest deadly incident lasted about 20 hours. negotiators gave the green light to enter the prison when they didn't hear anything from officer floyd. here is part of the negotiator talking to the inmates last night. >> as long as we know that floyd's okay. let us talk to floyd and that will be one plus for you. when they do take it up higher, maybe it is something that will really be considered.

you've got to show your intent. you got to show your intent at well being, well doing. >> the community in smyrna plans two vigils tomorrow for sergeant floyd. one here and one in dover. delaware's governor has ordered flags across the state to be flown at half-staff to honor sergeant steven floyd. calling today a very sad day for the first state. i'll be back in a few minutes with a demonstration in support of the prisoners here at vaughan correctional center. for now, let's send it back to the nbc 10 studios and erin coleman. now to breaking news in south philadelphia. police are searching for a stolen car after the thief stole it with a child in it. the child was dropped off, the child was not hurt. we have a crew on the way to the scene and we'll bring you more information as soon as we get it. a montgomery county woman who is accused of raping and killing her adopted daughter is

charged with theft of federal money and records tampering. the charges are in relation to sarah packer, allegedly cashing thousands of dollars in social security checks that were supposed to be for the care of her 14-year-old daughter, grace. and all new at 6:00, after weeks of digging into the grace packer murder case, we are finally getting action from u.s. senator bob casey. he is demanding a federal investigation into social security funds, asking the agency to take a hard look at the packer case. nbc 10's deanna durante spoke to senator casey on the phone. he says he hopes the social security administration makes changes to keep something like this from happening again. a delaware county woman fought back against a robber and ended up shooting him with his own gun. he tried to hold up a laundry mat yesterday morning. she reached for his gun, and it went off. >> i said either i have to take

the gun away from him or else afterwards he's going to shoot me. i'll be dead. >> the expect was shot in the arm. police arrested daquan brooks. he's in serious condition at the hospital and is charged with the robbery. the naacp wants a new trial for a man serving time for his role in the deadly market street building collapse. today the group, along with the contractor griffin compble white. talked about the outcome of a civil trial. several people in agencies were found libable for the collapse. including campbell. the jury said he was 1% liable for that collapse. he's serving a 15 year to 30 year prison sentence. they're pushing to get him back in front of a judge. in delaware county, chester is getting help from the state to spruce up its street. penn dot is providing a $900,000 grant.

chester will use that for improvement along the 600 block on the avenue of the states. now, up next, a blast of winter cold is headed your way. wind temperatures decrease to the teens. coming up in my first alert neighborhood forecast. the most accurate. after years of waiting, atlantic city's board walk is finally getting bigger. >> this is something that definitely needed to be done. >> i'm ted greenburg with when you'll finally be able to walk on the new wooden way.

i'm jim rosenfield live at vaughan correctional center in smyrna delaware. we've learned new information about the hostage situation that ended in a deadly standoff here. here is what we know right now, the hostage situation ended around 5:00 this morning when officers stormed the prison with a back hoe. 47-year-old sergeant steven floyd was killed, but authorities aren't saying exactly how he died. a woman who workeda as a counselor was safely rescued at that point. all 120 inmates who were in the building are considered suspects. a group of demonstrators showed

up at vaughan correctional center this morning. they're from an organization based in baltimore. they say they were here to show support for the inmates. they're calling for an independent investigation into the standoff and the events that followed. stay with the nbc 10 app for any updates on this deadly prison takeover. we have the full news conferences from police and also a photo gallery of the entire ordeal. i'll be back live here at the prison tonight at 11:00. for now, let's send it back to the nbc 10 studios and erin coleman. we'll see you tonight at 11:00. on to new video of bystanders rushing to rescue a driver whose car caught fire. nbc 10 at greenwood and west avenues 2:00 this afternoon. the driver went down an embankment and the car burst into the flames. the driver is in the hospital and is okay. atlantic city's board walk will be bigger when you visit this summer. the walkway is undergoing a

major expansion project years in the making. nbc 10 jersey shore reporter ted greenburg tells us when you'll be able to set foot on a brand-new stretch of board. >> reporter: in a resort where uncertainty looms large. greg houk says he's sure success is building, just feet from his atlantic city home. >> i think it's spectacular. >> reporter: it is a brand-new board walk, going up along the inln inlet an area cut off for years, a long awaited reconnection set to open this summer. >> it's not the same board walk. it's a little bit different. and i think i'm going to like that about it. >> reporter: the federal government is funding most of the project. which also includes a protect sea wall. the new board walk replacing a storm battered stretch that not too long ago looked like this. >> this will revitalize the area. >> reporter: the main section of

the board walk will end where this concrete promenade begins. you'll be able to stroll along the water here for a few blocks until it leads to another new section of board walk not far from gardener's basin. >> we're hoping that by early 2018 we'll have that done. >> reporter: new wood making atlantic city's board walk whole again. >> i would rather it be sooner than later. >> reporter: and expansion greg houk is certain will be worth the wait. ted greenburg, nbc 10 news. and turning to our weather now, not a bad day to work out outdoors. no heavy coats needed for these ladies. they got in a run in fairmount park this afternoon. temperatures are about to drop. he see a live look at our camera. we're in for a real weather roller coaster? >> yeah, erin. we're seeing temperatures way above average, they're going to go well below average and back up and then back down. all in the next ten days. one place liking the colder

weather is in the poconos, camel back. obviously, people are able to ski and able to make snow. it's 26 degrees right now in mount pocono. it's above freezing everywhere else. 40 degrees in philadelphia. we got up to 48 degrees during the day today. temperatures are dropping into the 30s in many areas, including some of our suburbs in new jersey. mullica hill. mount laurel, medford. lumberton. voorhees all within a degree or so. 38, 39. princeton, a cold spot at 31 in that particular area. got a few sprinkles and snow flurries, many didn't even reach the ground coming across parts of the area earlier. now everybody's getting that colder, northwest wind. colder air from the great lakes coming over. but it's just for a couple of days. it's not going to be long lasting thing. as we go through the night tonight and into tomorrow

morning, hey, it's going to be feeling like it's in the teens in many of the suburbs tomorrow morning. tomorrow afternoon it doesn't warm up a whole lot. only feeling like the mid20s. re it was 48 this afternoon, 50 yesterday. you'll notice when you get up and out tomorrow morning. then tomorrow night, it's even colder. getting down into the teens, even in philadelphia for the feels like temperature. single digits. allentown and pottstown by saturday morning. which is going to be the coldest of the cold that we're going to be seeing this time. still feeling like the 20s, even saturday afternoon. then sunday afternoon, not quite as cold. tomorrow, it's kind of breezy, not quite as gusty as today. looks like it's going to be dry, a lot of clouds around. 36 in fairmount. 33 in langhorn. 31 in easton. these temperatures are below average for this time of the year compared to what we've seen. robinsville, 33.

longport 38. dover 37 degrees. that is quite a drop. and it's going to drop even more on saturday. a high of 34 in philadelphia. may not even hit 30 in new jersey. lehigh valley, taken precipitation out of all the areas on sunday. not quite as cold them. nbc 10's drew smith is following breaking news in south philadelphia. police are searching for a car that was stolen with a child inside. we understand the child has been found? >> reporter: we are live here on the corner of 9th. detectives just arrived and they are speaking with witnesses who watched a man pull a baby and its car seat right out of a car and leave it on the sidewalk. we have aerial footage which shows us what's going on down here. they've closed off the street. this started when somebody stole a car, then drove off and then took -- then left that baby in

the car for a little bit then pulling it out. we ever going to stay down here and we'll follow the investigation as it happens. we're live in south philadelphia, i'm drew smith, nbc 10 news. i'm john clark from csn. carson wentz talks from super bowl festivities, it's all next.

dear fellow citizen,

i know what it's like to want to relax with your family. but enjoying today doesn't mean losing sight of tomorrow. so while i invest in "the now" my mortgage, vacations i still invest in the future, like my children's college tuition and retirement. i can help you piece together your financial journey for today and tomorrow. if you have a question about investing, ask me. sincerely, amanda etheridge, fellow planner and fellow citizen.

i'm john clark from csn. the flyers coach is setting two of his players. they're both healthy scratches.

flyers gave up 5 goals in carolina. bad turnover on this goal. this will be gauss's third time being scratched this season, second time for travis. theege l eagles will be lookingo after kenny stills in free agency. i'm sure carson wentz would like him. here is carson at the super bowl festivities. he says today is the first time he picked up a football since the season ended. as you can see, having some fun. boom! >> it's cool to be here to get that experience. even watching the playoffs the last couple of weeks, it's frustrating, you know, i'm sitting at home and yaei'm on m couch wanting to be there. i want to be there. it's making me hungrier. the show that it is makes me that much hung reer. >> congrats to our eagles player

country malcolm jenkins. the 2017 byron white award, malcolm always doing great things out there. sixers joel embiid. he will not play tonight in san antonio. and robert covington is doubtful. highlights at 11:00. i'm john clark, we're right back.

afoot and light-hearted i take to the open road. healthy, free, the world before me, the long brown path before me leading wherever i choose. the east and the west are mine. the north and the south are mine. all seems beautiful to me. kept coming back in different places. we went from everything being fine

to everything not being fine. i really needed someone who could think outside the box. we did the genomic testing pretty early in christine's course. with our treatments we've had great success for her. they gave me treatment options i didn't know about before. there's an atmosphere of hope. i want to be around just to be a grandma. the evolution of cancer care is here. learn more at cancercenter.com/philadelphia appointments available now.

sky force 10 live over a protest on market street in philadelphia. lgbt activists say they're demonstrating against the president's immigration order. we'll have much more tonight at 11:00. glenn is back with one more check of the forecast. the cold is coming. >> it's coming tonight. you're going to feel it by morning. a couple of real cold days down into the teens in some areas, then we warm up gradually to early next week. we get a good bit of rain and it

gets cold again. >> thanks for watching, join us again tonight at 11:00. we'll see you then. tonight, con fronting our allies, president trump targets not only foes but friends. reportedly blasting the prime minister of australia on the phone. shock waves around the world as rex tillerson takes charge. thoughts and praye prayers. the president raising eyebrows with off topic remarks mocking his reality show successor at the prayer breakfast. protest turns ugly. fighting cancer. what doctors have found to cut the risk of death in one of the most common forms. a day care center message gone viral. striking a nerve with parents across the country. chance encounter that led to an amazing bond that's