Two corrections officers have been stabbed by inmates and three others were injured during an attack at a Massachusetts prison, prompting a labor union to declare that the “inmates are literally running the asylum.”
The Massachusetts Department of Correction announced Thursday that the assault at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley – a town north of Worcester – happened around 6:20 p.m. Wednesday night.
“Two correction officers were assaulted by incarcerated individuals and sustained multiple stab wounds. Three additional correction officers were injured when responding to the incident,” it said in a statement, adding that one of the victims remains hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
“The Department has launched a comprehensive investigation to determine the facts and circumstances and is also conducting a full security assessment,” it also said. “The incarcerated males identified to be involved in this incident have been transferred to other DOC facilities.”
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A police officer guards an entrance to the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in April 2017. A stabbing was reported at the facility on Wednesday, Sept. 18. (AP/Elise Amendola)
Shawn Jenkins, the interim commissioner of the agency, said, “My thoughts are with the officers and their families at this time and the Department offers our full support to the officers as they recover from their injuries.
“Violence against DOC staff is unacceptable, and we will take the steps necessary to ensure those responsible are held accountable under the law,” he added.
However, the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union tagged the DOC in a Facebook post saying, “It’s been 4 years since you authorized the use of the tactical units and done a thorough institution-wide search!”
“How much more do our members have to endure before you decide to keep them safe? The inmates are literally running the asylum. Do your jobs,” the post read.
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A prison vehicle drives past the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in April 2017. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)
Dennis Martin, the president of the labor union, later told reporters at a press conference Thursday that the incident “was an attempted murder on a correctional officer in the facility.”
“This is not Hollywood – this is real, inside here… this happens every day in these institutions,” he continued.
Martin said the attack “seemed to be coordinated” as “somebody getting stabbed 12 times, that is not just to send a warning, that is to kill somebody.”
Members of the media gather at the front entrance to the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in April 2017, where former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez was found dead in his jail cell. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)
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He also said inmates in Massachusetts have been making weapons out of a metal strip found inside tablets that are given to prisoners and then smashed open.
Fox News’ Andrew Fone contributed to this report.
