By C1 Staff
HOUSTON, Texas — A correctional supervisor was placed on probation after firing a tear gas rifle inside a jail dorm room, injuring an inmate.
ABC News reports that video of the incident shows Lt. Cody Waller firing the rifle at a group of “largely motionless inmates” in the middle of a housing dorm. The inmate that was struck by the rifle suffered burns and other injuries.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice said the rifle was not meant for indoor use, and that any “chemical agents should have been administered through the door rather than in the middle of the housing area.”
Waller was placed on a 10-month probation on July 8, but kept his job and is currently working desk duty.
The TDCJ released this statement regarding the incident:
“Two groups of offenders displayed aggression toward each other and refused orders to return to their bunks in a housing area … After numerous orders were issued and many offenders failed to comply with instructions, authorization was given to use chemical agents to prevent the disturbance from escalating further.”
In the video, black inmates and Hispanic inmates are seen squaring off for a fight. The Hispanic inmates allegedly wouldn’t return to their beds for lights out an hour earlier, and staff believed it was due to fear of being attacked by the black inmates.
Officers order the inmates to “rack up,” which the Hispanic inmates ignore. They do eventually comply with an order to move away from the door.
The inmates are then cornered by Waller, who fires the tear gas rifle into the crowd. One inmate was struck in the chest by the canister.
The TDCJ said the whole incident wasn’t shown on camera.
A Houston attorney who reviewed the footage said he wasn’t convinced that it showed excessive force.
“I don’t know what the instigating issues were and I don’t know the dangerousness that those instigating issues posed to the unit,” Bill Habern said. “Certainly it appears to be a race-related issue, which the prison has very little control over because the courts have ruled that you’ve got to integrate. It may’ve been a situation that was about to get violent.
“It’s a damned-if-you-do and damned-if-you-don’t kind of situation.”
He did say he was unclear why the officer fired the rifle when he did, saying it may have been a little premature. TDCJ said some staffers have been retrained.