By Luna Stephens
Lincoln Journal Star
JOHNSON COUNTY, Neb. — A Tecumseh State Correctional Institution staff member was sent to the hospital Tuesday after being assaulted by an inmate, prison officials said.
The staff member was making sure a door was secured when the inmate, who lives in a cell room nearby, punched the staff member repeatedly and used his knee to strike the staff member in the torso, according to a news release.
The staff member was treated for injuries to his head and torso.
In another housing unit at the prison, the prison system’s emergency response team assisted staff in conducting targeted searches of cells on Tuesday.
The department said the searches were in response to incidents on Saturday in which three inmates set fires in their cells, refused to leave and became combative.
“Two of the inmates used homemade weapons in those incidents,” said Director Scott R. Frakes, Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS). “Fortunately, injuries to two staff members were minor, but that was the impetus for more extensive cell searches in that housing unit today.”
The Tecumseh Fire Department assisted in extinguishing one of the fires, which officials said did not spread beyond the three cells.
(c)2021 Lincoln Journal Star, Neb.