A Kentucky state inmate escaped custody Sunday, took hostages and held off police for several hours before surrendering peacefully, Louisville police said.
Daniel Gibson, 24, of Louisville, spent nine hours free after overpowering a state Department of Corrections officer at the University of Louisville hospital, police said. Gibson had been taken to the hospital for treatment from the Kentucky State Reformatory in La Grange.
The hostage standoff ended about 7 p.m., when police agreed to let Gibson see his wife and children. Gibson released one of two women hostages and the second woman escaped at the apartment complex where Gibson holed up, police said. Several children had been released earlier.
Lt. John Mills, head of the hostage negotiating team, told reporters that Gibson said "he was ready to come out" after he had been convinced that "it was in his best interests to do so."
Paige McGuire, deputy warden at the prison, said Gibson escaped from custody about 10:30 a.m. after assaulting an officer at the hospital. Gibson also took the officer's gun and car, she said. He had been taken to the hospital at 1:30 a.m. Sunday with neck and head injuries. The officer was treated and released.
Gibson was serving a 37-year sentence for multiple Jefferson County convictions in November and December 2004, including first-degree robbery, burglary, intimidating a witness, assault and escape, according to the Department of Corrections.
As of Sunday night, no charges had been filed against Gibson in connection with his escape and the hostage incident, said Alicia Smiley, a metro police spokeswoman.
Smiley said Gibson -- who was described as 6-foot-4 and 270 pounds -- drove the corrections officer's white Crown Victoria to the Greenwood boat dock in southwestern Jefferson County. There, he abandoned the vehicle, took another car and drove to the Camp Taylor Fire District station, where Gibson told the second car's owner to get out, Smiley said.
Gibson then drove a short way to the apartment complex, where he took the hostages, police said. Smiley said some residents of the complex were evacuated.