William T. Harper's book "Eleven Days in Hell - The 1974 Carrasco Prison Siege at Huntsville, TX" won the 2005 Violet Crown Award winner for non-fiction writing. It is a gripping account of one of the longest prison hostage-sieges in US history.
One of the eyewitnesses gave a very personal account of his experiences in a 2011 talk to students at Sam Houston State University, which is literally in the shadow of the Walls Unit: (
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"Scott recalls 1974 prison siege
By Lorri Stewart
Special to The Item
HUNTSVILLE — Wayne Scott, retired Executive Director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and an SHSU alumnus, recently recalled the 1974 Carrasco Prison Siege in the Huntsville Walls Unit as part of the College of Criminal Justice’s speakers series called Real Talk with CJ. In addition to sharing his story with students, Wayne was one of three who survived the siege to participate in “Let Talk,” a SHSU Honors Program benefit, which featured small group discussions over dinner with renowned experts.
Scott was a Lieutenant in the state prison when three inmates took 11 civilian workers and four inmates hostage in the library. As the siege unfolded, Scott and a colleague came under fire from the captors as they approached the front door of building. His fellow officer was shot in the foot; the bullet missed Wayne but hit his clothes.
“We were within 20 feet of the glass doors when two inmates jumped out and shot at us,” Wayne said. “I participated in the Carrasco Prison Siege for 11-1/2 days. It’s a compelling story and it has so many ups and downs, it is hard to cover in just an hour.”
Wayne was returning from escorting inmates to the lower yard when shots rang out as he approached the only door to the Education Building. He ordered the inmates to clear the yard, made his way to the officer’s dining room to inform the staff to stay in place, and then went to the Warden’s Office to report the situation.
Inside the library, Heroin Kingpin Frederico Gomez Carrasco and two other inmates – Rudolfo Dominguez and Ignacio Cueves -- were holding 15 people hostage. Carrasco had feigned a leg injury to be assigned to Huntsville Unit, and a fellow inmate had smuggled in three guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in the center of a carved out ham and in a large can of peaches.
“There were no windows or exits, except for the double glass doors,” said Scott. “They had barricaded the doors with filing cabinets, and they would rotate hostages in to sit on the barricades.”
Scott brought some of the artifacts from the Texas Prison Museum, including Carrasco’s cane, a walkie talkie, and a protective helmet fashioned for Carrasco in the prison’s metal shop. He also brought photos from the days of the siege.
While prison officials, the FBI, and Texas Rangers developed options to end the siege, Carrasco became increasingly agitated. One hostage was released after suffering a heart attack; a second woman feigned a heart attack and was kept in the hospital with guards so as not to alert Carrasco to the ploy. One of the hostage inmates escaped by jumping through the plate glass front doors, emerging alive but covered in blood from shattered glass.
On the 11th day, Carrasco told each hostage to call their loved ones to say goodbye. Carrasco emerged from the Walls Unit, encased in a “Trojan Horse” made of rolling blackboards lined with law books. TDC employees, using fire hoses provided by the Huntsville Fire Department, blasted the device with high pressure water and, just before the capsule toppled one hose ruptured causing the Trojan Horse to right itself. Gunshots could then be heard from inside the crippled device.
Carrasco shot one hostage before turning the gun on himself. Dominguez shot a second hostage before taking a bullet from a member of the 13-man strike team when he was observed trying to use his pistol to shoot at the strike team. Cueves lay motionless under one of the hostages, but he was not injured. He was taken into custody and later executed for his role in the siege.
In the end, two women hostages were fatally wounded, and the chaplain was seriously injured.
“One of the things you learn when you start to work in prisons is that no hostages are ever released,” Scott said.
The story was turned into a book called “Eleven Days in Hell” by William T. Harper.
Many correction officers vowed to quit after that day, but like Scott, continued with their careers. Scott worked in the state prison system for nearly 30 years, rising to the position of Executive Director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
During his career, Scott earned several awards and developed programs that received national recognition. Among these were four Awards of Excellence from the American Corrections Association for community service with Habitat for Humanity, for its computerized maintenance management system, for the Edmundo Mireles Criminal Justice Training Academy and for the Correctional Managed Health Care partnership with two universities.
Scott was named a Distinguished Alumni of Sam Houston State University in 2000, and the Texas Board of Criminal Justice honored his service by naming a prison facility after him upon his retirement in 2001." [end]