Arkansas for liberty issued the following announcement on Nov 16.
An inmate at an Arkansas detention facility attacked a correctional officer Friday night with a handmade, foot-long shank, a state Department of Correction spokeswoman said.
The inmate, who was at the Maximum Security Unit at Tucker, reportedly stabbed a sergeant's protective gear and clothing five times with a shank made from a copper pipe while she was passing a food tray to him around 4 p.m., department spokeswoman Dina Tyler said.
The officer was not injured, though there were multiple holes in her shirt and stab-resistant vest.
Tyler declined to identify the inmate or the officer, saying the inmate’s name can be released when the investigation is complete.
“A Correctional Sergeant at the Maximum Security Unit is alive tonight because she did everything right when an inmate viciously attacked her …” a news release issued by the department late Friday states. “She responded with defensive tactics, radioed for help and held him off until officers swarmed him.”
The statement said the inmate wanted to “settle the score” after the sergeant had taken contraband from him earlier in the day. The inmate has since been moved to the Varner Supermax, Tyler said. He could face more restrictive housing and other disciplinary measures after an investigation.
The release said the inmate stabbed an officer at the Varner Unit and has attacked other inmates and officers in the past. He is serving a life without parole after a conviction in two homicides, Tyler said.
“She could be dead. She very well could be dead,” Tyler said. “I think sometimes people gloss over the dangers these officers face.”
Original source here.
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