WALLA WALLA, Wash. (AP) — A Washington State Penitentiary spokeswoman says an inmate stabbed a correctional officer in the head with an ink pen Tuesday night. Spokeswoman Shari Hall says the officer suffered puncture wounds and a dislocated shoulder. He was treated at a Walla Walla-area hospital.
Hall did not identify the officer.
The spokeswoman says the unprovoked assault took place in a close custody unit for inmates with mental health problems. The inmate now in segregation had been sentenced out of Pierce County for multiple counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
Two other guards — a woman and a man — suffered minor injuries when they came to the injured officer’s aid. Hall says an inmate also jumped in to help and was injured but she did not have details.
The guard who was attacked has worked as a state correctional officer since 1999.
KING-TV says representatives of the officer’s union, Teamsters Local 117, reported he was bleeding profusely after the attack.
