ONTARIO, Ore. (AP) — A newspaper reports that the recent wounding of an eastern Oregon prison inmate by a guard trying to break up a prison yard fight follows a fatal beating that took place in May at the same prison.
Malheur County District Attorney Dan Norris said Tuesday that 54-year-old inmate Chris Lange was attacked and killed May 21 in a recreation yard at the Snake River Correctional Institution near Ontario, Ore. Norris tells The Oregonian (http://bit.ly/nHCOoE) that a murder charge against another inmate is expected.
Oregon Corrections Department spokeswoman Jeanine Hohn says her department apparently didn’t issue a statewide news release about Lange’s death.
In last Thursday’s case, 21-year-old inmate Kevin Jackson was shot and wounded by a corrections officer firing from a guard tower. State corrections officials have said the unidentified guard fired to break up a recreation yard fight involving three inmates. Few details have been disclosed.
