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Five correctional officers were injured after they were attacked by a group of inmates at the Souza Baranowski Correctional Center in Lancaster, Massachusetts, on Wednesday night.
The attack began around 6:20 p.m. when inmates at the maximum security prison stabbed two correctional officers multiple times. Three other guards rushed to help and were also injured in the attack, according to the Massachusetts Department of Correction. Two of the five officers suffered stab wounds.
All five officers were hospitalized. Their condition is unclear, but one officer was stabbed in the back of the head, Boston 25 News reports.
The Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union, which represents the interests of correctional officers in the state, accused the facility of not providing a reasonably safe working environment.
“Massachusetts Department of Correction, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! It has been four years since you authorized the deployment of tactical units and conducted a thorough search of the entire facility! How much more must our members endure before you decide to protect them?” the union said in a statement. “Inmates literally run the institution. Do your job.”
On Thursday, union president Dennis Martin held a press conference outside the prison and announced that one victim had been stabbed 12 times, according to CBS News. It is unclear if it was the same officer who was stabbed in the back of the head.
“I could imagine an attack where someone gets punched. But if someone gets stabbed 12 times? That’s not just a warning. That’s like killing someone,” Martin said. “Stabbed 12 times in the back. He was lucky. He was lucky. He was lucky to survive that attack.”
Correctional staff eventually regained control of the facility. The Worcester County District Attorney’s Office is currently conducting an investigation into the attack.
The state correctional service said the inmates involved in the attack had been transferred to other state facilities.
Shawn Jenkins, acting director of the Department of Corrections, said he was “deeply concerned” about the attack, adding that the agency would “take the necessary steps to ensure that those responsible are held accountable under the law.”
“Our department will also conduct a thorough safety assessment and review of protocols to ensure the safety of everyone who works and lives in our facilities,” he said.
This is not the first indication that conditions at the facility are unsafe for staff. Earlier this month Boston-Herald reported that nearly 40 “homemade sharpened” weapons were seized from the prison. The weapons were found after a correctional officer was knocked unconscious by ingesting a synthetic cannabinoid, the newspaper said.
