Officer attacked at Florida prison where two dozen prisoners have coronavirus
An officer was injured during an attack by inmates at a state prison west of Orlando that has become the latest hot spot in the nation’s third-largest prison system, with officials confirming 17 additional cases of COVID-19.
After an unspecified number of inmates attacked the officer at Sumter Correctional Institution, other prisoners intervened, Florida Department of Corrections officials said. The department did not name the officer, who sustained non-life threatening injuries and is in stable condition at a local hospital.
“I want to commend the staff and inmates who came to this officer’s aid during this vicious attack,” said Secretary Mark Inch in a news release. “Our officer showed courage and perseverance under extreme duress.”
With the spike of 17 confirmed cases, Sumter Correctional has become the third prison to erupt with the highly contagious and deadly respiratory disease that has already killed four inmates at the first facility to suffer an outbreak: Blackwater River Correctional Facility near Pensacola, a prison run under state contract by the Geo Group.
As of Sunday evening, 113 inmates and 80 staff members across the prison system had tested positive for COVID-19, up from 85 and 78 as reported the day prior. At Sumter Correctional, the cases rose from seven to 24 Sunday, however, the number of inmates in medical isolation dropped from 21 to 18.
Officials said the dorm involved in the attack was not under medical isolation, but the entire facility had been on restricted movement like virtually every other prison in the state. Such lockdowns, which restrict access to commissaries and showers, among other amenities, are known to exacerbate conditions for prisoners and officers alike.
Jill Trask, whose friend is incarcerated at Sumter Correctional, said the men there are scared of being exposed, and that they are “starting to panic.”
Her friend and her husband, who is at Lake Correctional Institution, said the men sleep close together, don’t have access to enough cleaning supplies and are nervous about officers not wearing masks.
She noted that at Sumter, men who had fevers were left sleeping in their normal dorms until their tests came back positive.
In a recent letter to Inch Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trask urged them to take more action in addressing COVID-19 inside the facilities.
“I am sounding the warning ... your prisons are about to go into riots,” she wrote. “These people are terrified. They do not know what’s going on.”
In an email to Trask from a friend, an inmate at Sumter wrote that the people are “getting heated” about rumors of sick inmates at the facility.
“The inmates are getting tired of it ... we don’t know exact numbers or what’s the truth,” he wrote. “All they are doing is lying to us.”
Sumter has about 1,226 inmates in its main facility, prison officials said in the news release that outlined the steps the department is taking to beat back the virus: temperature checks, “aggressive testing,” in-dorm meals and medical services and face masks made from inmate uniforms.
“All symptomatic inmates are being tested for COVID-19,” the release said. “Additionally, elderly and immune-compromised inmates are given priority for testing.”
The department said in the release that it has deployed rigorous cleaning” at Sumter, but has not said whether the cleaning crews are made up of prisoners.
The Florida Department of Corrections’ Office of Inspector General is investigating the attack, which could result in criminal charges.
This story was originally published April 19, 2020 at 8:00 PM.
