By C1 Staff
JACKSON, Miss. — Seven correctional officers with the South Mississippi Correctional Institution were assaulted Monday afternoon following a shakedown.
The Miss. DOC stated in a press release that all of the officers were treated and released at a local hospital, suffering head and facial bruises. None had life-threatening injuries.
Five inmates have already been identified as the attackers and have been moved to another prison.
“We do not know at this time what provoked those inmates to assault our officers,” Corrections Commissioner Christopher B. Epps said. “At no time was the public at risk nor was the security, custody, control and care of other staff and inmates.”
The disturbance occurred in the same location where another officer was assaulted last Thursday, but in a different unit. The officer was in Unit A1 when an inmate struck him with a bread tray and the officer fell and struk his head on the floor.
The officer, whose condition is improving, remains hospitalized.
The area of the facility can house up to 200 inmates requiring close supervision and observation. The unit held 193 close custody inmates at the time of the disturbance on Monday.
“Regardless of the reason for these assaults, I intend to see all these inmates are prosecuted,” Epps said. “These assaults illustrate the type of inmates we are dealing with these days. I am committed to ensuring that our prisons are appropriately staffed, as SMCI was in these two cases, and our officers are able to go home each day.”