On February 17 at approximately 3:40 p.m., two knife-wielding inmates at Union C.I. enter the outer office of the Assistant Superintendent and take two secretaries hostage. They demand to be released, given an automobile full of gas and a multiple channel radio. Both inmates are serving life terms. Jerry Rasberry is serving life plus 20 years for robberies and assault, and he is sentenced as a habitual offender. Ray Mitchell has four life sentences plus 40 years for the murders of four in Miami.

One of the secretaries is rescued within 15 minutes when Correctional Officer Dennis Dowling, Admin. Asst. J.T. Richardson and Col. Donald Jackson kick in the door of the office and yank her to safety. They are unaware of the second hostage until they hear her scream. Rasberry is holding a knife to her throat, which will continue throughout the ordeal.

Superintendent R.D. Massey, Asst. Supt. Paul Gunning and Inspector Ed Sands enter the office and begin face-to-face negotiations. The inmates decline Sands' offer to trade himself for the hostage. Rasberry and Mitchell are allowed to speak to various family members in the hours that follow. The Duval County Sheriff's Office Hostage Negotiation Team arrives to assist, as does its SWAT team. Little progress is made and the inmates remain adamant in their demands.

Approximately 10 hours after the hostage situation began and all other avenues have been explored, Supt. Massey and eight armed officers prepare to storm the office. The other officers involved were Lt. Raymond Wilkerson, Lt. Michael Rathmann, Colonel D.E. Jackson, Lt. Gene Griffis, Major G.L. Tomlinson, Sgt. John Newman, Sgt. R. Murrhee and Colonel Tom Barton. All but Barton work at Union C.I. - Barton works at neighboring Florida State Prison and is known for his accurate marksmanship and calm under pressure. The previous year he ended a hostage standoff with one shot from a 12-gauge shotgun. All the officers are later commended by the grand jury for their actions.

Enoch "Gene" Griffis, who concealed a two-shot Derringer in his tobacco pouch, effectively ended the standoff by shooting both inmates.

Lt. Griffis, who knows Rasberry from his work detail, has been serving as a go-between during the day. He would relay messages and demands from the inmates to the superintendent and back. Though as Griffis put it, "You could have had the governor in there and we still wouldn't let you go." The plan is for Lt. Griffis to enter the room alone, armed with the Superintendent's two shot derringer hidden in his Red Man tobacco pouch. Griffis is to fire his derringer at the inmate holding the hostage if a clear shot can be made, and that shot would trigger the others to come in both doorways. (A derringer is an unusual weapon, but was chosen for its small size so that it could be concealed easily.)

According to an article in the Miami Herald by Michael Browning, this is what happened next:

"Rasberry was distracted - he was on the phone with his mother in Tampa. Griffis set the tobacco pouch on a desk, reached in, grabbed the derringer and fired at Mitchell, who lunged forward and fell, dying. Griffis turned and fired into Rasberry's chest. It entered below the heart, severing an artery. Rasberry fell and grabbed the hostage, who was frantically trying to crawl under a desk. There was a tremendous blast as Colonel Tom Barton blew the lock off the office door with a shotgun and burst in. Another officer, Gene Tomlinson, followed, firing five more shots into the struggling Rasberry, who finally released the hostage, though not without cutting her superficially across the neck and shoulder."

Mitchell had been shot three times in the chest and was pronounced dead at 1:28 a.m. Incredibly, Rasberry survived. He later died in prison on January 5, 2000. The plan succeeded in freeing the hostage. The stab wound she sustained during the melee required numerous stitches.

According to a grand jury investigation into the shooting, which was found justifiable:

"The Grand Jury commends most highly the patience and courage of Raymond Massey and his staff for the professional manner in which they handled this most explosive situation. The Grand Jury specifically commends H. Edward Sands for his attempt to substitute himself for (the hostage), knowing the personal danger that this might entail. The Grand Jury further commends Officers Enoch Eugene Griffis, Tom Barton and Gene Louis Tomlinson for the professional manner in which they carried out their assignments."

Also commended were both hostages "...in their position as public servants for enduring a most harrowing experience with courage and calmness..."