By Christine Bedell
The Bakersfield Californian
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — The 52-year-old correctional officer shot on a North Kern State Prison yard from outside the facility’s security perimeter is “still kind of in shock that this happened to him,” authorities said Tuesday.
The officer, an 18 1/2-year veteran of the state corrections department that officials declined to identify for security reasons, was said to be resting at home and in good spirits after suffering a minor wound in the freak incident Monday evening.
It didn’t appear he was targeted, said Kern County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Ray Pruitt. He said authorities still don’t have any suspects or know the motive.
Lt. Tom Mattson, spokesman for the prison, said he talked to the officer Tuesday morning.
“He’s still kind of in shock that this happened to him,” Mattson said. “The feeling among the correctional staff inside is shock and surprise that would happen at our prison.”
A high-caliber round fired from well outside the prison perimeter hit the officer in the torso at about 7:30 p.m. Monday. He was protected by a stab-resistant vest.
It was unclear exactly what type of weapon was used, Pruitt said. At a press conference later Tuesday, prison officials refused to divulge details about any shell casings found at the scene, saying it was part of the investigation.
Correctional officers and other prison staffers heard several rounds fired but from exactly where was still unclear, Pruitt said. He said 10 to 20 rounds were fired from “somewhere southwest of the facility,” which is one of two state prisons in Delano, just west of Highway 99.
All inmates and staff were accounted for afterward.
Prison officials would not say more about the officer’s injury. Mattson said “multiple” other correctional officers and inmates were in the Facility A yard with him when the incident occurred.
That yard is closest to Cecil Avenue and general population inmates recreate there, Mattson said.
All officials would say about what the officer was doing at the time of the shooting was “performing the duties of a correctional officer.” They said they’d never heard of an officer being shot inside a prison from outside its grounds.
“I’ve been doing this for 19 years and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Mattson said.
The Sheriff’s Office is leading the investigation, Pruitt said. Other agencies assisting included the California Highway Patrol and Delano Police Department.
Officials asked anyone with information about the shooting — including whether they know if anyone was shooting as recreation in the area at the time — to call the Sheriff’s Office.
Jeffrey Callison, press secretary for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said officials implemented a “modified program” after the incident in which the prison was made more secure than normal and movement was restricted to aid in the investigation.
An internal corrections department inquiry will be conducted to aid sheriff’s officers in their work.
North Kern State Prison opened in 1993 and houses approximately 4,300 minimum-, medium- and maximum-custody inmates. The prison also provides educational, medical and mental health services and employs more than 1,300 people.