Correctional Officer Fred Sidney Griffis, a 40-year-old, was shot and killed on June 24, 1987, in West Palm Beach, Florida, during an escape attempt while transporting a prisoner. The ambush happened in front of a doctor’s office on North Olive Avenue near Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard when two armed suspects demanded the keys to the prison van. Griffis refused and tossed the keys away; one of the suspects then shot him multiple times.

The two assailants, William Van Poyck and Frank Valdes, were captured after a multi-car police chase. The inmate they were trying to free was James J. O'Brien, then serving a life sentence for second-degree murder. Griffis was a decorated U.S. Army veteran who had served three tours in Vietnam and had been on duty at Glades Correctional Institution for about three weeks after leaving the military.

Anyone who knew Officer Griffis, witnessed the ambush, or has information about the events that day is asked to come forward.