By Liz Sawyer
Star Tribune
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — St. Cloud prison went on lockdown Thursday morning after an inmate attacked a corrections officer in the dining hall, causing a scuffle that injured three other responding officers.
The offender was immediately placed in restrictive housing, while all four Department of Corrections employees were evaluated at a hospital and later released.
“This incident will be fully investigated, and the offender responsible will be held accountable under the law,” said DOC spokeswoman Sarah Fitzgerald.
St. Cloud prison serves as the intake facility for the DOC, where offenders are processed and evaluated after being sentenced by the court. It houses approximately 1,050 adult inmates.
The latest assault comes at a challenging time for the department, following two prison attacks that killed two corrections employees and injured more than a dozen others this year. The union representing correction officers is pushing the Legislature to hire 327 more officers, amid charges of increasingly low morale.
DOC Commissioner Tom Roy will retire next week after eight years on the job. DFL Gov.-elect Tim Walz has appointed Paul Schnell, the current Inver Grove Heights police chief, to succeed Roy on Jan. 7. Schnell said he’s committed to renewing focus on safety in the workplace.