The Auburn Correctional Facility is locked down after an inmate attacked a corrections officer, slashing the officer across the face, a union representative said.
The officer “got attacked pretty seriously,” said James Miller, a spokesman for the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, the union representing prison officers.
The maximum-security prison was still locked down by late Monday afternoon, according to Thomas Mailey, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. He said he was unsure how long the facility would remain in lockdown.
The officer was assaulted on Sunday and required treatment at an outside hospital, Mailey said, at which time acting Commissioner Anthony Annucci authorized the lockdown and a search of the facility for “contraband.”
The prisoner who is accused of attacking the officer has been moved to another facility, Mailey said.
“The department has zero tolerance for violence within our facilities and anyone engaged in misconduct will be disciplined,” Mailey said. “If warranted, an incident will be referred for outside prosecution.”
The Auburn prison has been locked down several times in the past. In 2019, the facility was locked down for more than a week due to inmate fights and violent assaults on staff. A 20-inmate melee and a fight that included another inmate being stabbed in the head led to several days of lockdowns in 2018. The prison also had been locked down eight times between 2015 and 2017, more than any other state prison.
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