By C1 Staff
AUBURN, NY — A New York correctional facility was locked down for the last week after two inmates attacked officers.
The Syracruse reports that one inmate punched two officers, one of whom required stitches for their injuries, at the Auburn Correctional Facility.
Another inmate pushed a correctional officer in the chest after ignoring orders toleave the mess hall.
Both inmates were placed in special housing with a 23-hour-a-day confinement immediately after the attack.
Officers discovered contraband weapons in one of the inmate’s cells after the attacks, which led to a section of the prison housing to be shut down for a further searched.
On March 2, the entire facility was locked down and more than 1,600 inmates were held in their cells until Friday.
Officers found five contraband weapons, three ice pick-type weapons and two razor blades, after the search was complete.
The lockdown was completely lifted and the facility returned to normal operations on Monday.
The inmate who punched two officers has been transferred to Five Points Correctional Facility, a maximum security facility.
The Department of Corrections released this information pertaining to the lockdown:
At 6:05 p.m. Feb. 28, a 21-year-old man convicted of burglary in 2011 in Niagara County ignored a sergeant’s order to leave the mess hall at the Auburn Correctional Facility. The inmate, whose earliest release from prison is December 2016, then pushed a corrections officer in the chest. The officer said he had a scratch, but no one else was injured. Staff escorted the inmate out of the mess hall, using body holds. The inmate fell to the floor. The staff gained control and handcuffed him.
As the staff put restraints on the 21-year-old inmate, the convicted murderer walked into the mess hall and punched another corrections officer in the face, records show. He then struck the sergeant in the face. It was not immediately clear what provoked the attack, corrections and union officials said. The sergeant was not hurt, but the corrections officer had cuts and swelling to his nose and forehead, and needed three stitches to the left of his nose and three stitches to the right of his nose.
Staff used force to gain control of the 39-year-old inmate, then handcuffed him and brought him to the special housing unit. The inmate had bruises on his knuckles, a swollen eye and pain in his leg after the attack, although it was not clear how he was injured. Records show the inmate was convicted of murder in Erie County and he has been in prison since October 2001. His earliest release date is 2033.
Prison authorities have brought internal disciplinary charges against both inmates, but did not name them publicly because their cases are pending. The 21-year-old is facing five charges: assault on staff, violent conduct, refusing a direct order, movement violation and interference. The 39-year-old is facing nine charges: two counts each of assault on staff, violent conduct, creating a disturbance and interference, and one count of rioting.
Disciplinary hearings will decide, among other things, whether criminal charges will be filed.
A union official representing the state corrections officers said attacks behind prison walls have become far too common.
“This follows a pattern over the last several years in which inmate attacks on staff continue to increase,” union spokesman Jim Miller said.
Last year, there were 748 documented attacks on staff by inmates statewide, the most in five years, Miller said. If the pace continues, Miller said there could be even more attacks this year.
“The first two months of 2015 -- if the pace continues, the number of assaults on staff, will exceed the number in 2014,” he said.
“It’s a situation where people need to recognize the jobs of corrections officer are inherently dangerous and they continue to get worse,” Miller said. “More resources -- technology, staffing -- need to be given to staff to reduce the violence inside the facilities.”