COLUMBIA, S.C. — Two inmates at a South Carolina prison are being praised for stopping a guard from being attacked Tuesday night, according to the state Department of Corrections.
The inmates, who have not been publicly identified, intervened when another prisoner was assaulting an officer at Lee Correctional Institution, the South Carolina Department of Corrections said on Twitter. That’s the same prison where seven inmates were killed during a violent incident in 2018.
During the Tuesday night incident, the guard was punched in the face, pushed down a flight of stairs and stomped on the head, according to the tweets.
The two inmates then stepped in. One grabbed the prisoner who initiated the attack while the other pulled the guard to safety and called for help, the S.C. Department of Corrections said.
The officer was taken to an area hospital after suffering non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Department of Corrections. Further information on the guard’s condition was not included in the tweets.
The attacking inmate was moved to another prison and charges from the attack are pending. Information about the specific charges, or a motive for the attack, were not included in the tweets.
But the Department of Corrections shared its gratitude for the intervening inmates.
“Thank you to these (two) inmates who helped stop this serious assault,” the tweet said.
Lee Correctional is a men’s-only, high-security institution that currently houses 1,084 inmates, according to the Department of Corrections. Like other Level 3 prisons in South Carolina, Lee is “designed primarily to house violent offenders with longer sentences, and inmates who exhibit behavioral problems,” the Department of Corrections said.
The prison is in Bishopville, about 50 miles east of Columbia.
In addition to the seven inmates who were killed in the 2018 incident, 17 others were injured during those fights, The State reported.
Lee Correctional has had other violent incidents over the years. The State previously reported there have been several large insurrections, including one in which an inmate overpowered a guard and used his keys to free other prisoners from their cells.
Another incident when a prisoner assaulted a staff member happened in February 2020, when an inmate attacked and tried to sexually assault an employee at Lee Correctional, according to the Department of Corrections.
There have also been other deaths reported at the prison.
In January 2021, an inmate at Lee Correctional died after a fight with other prisoners.
In another incident at Lee Correctional in November 2020, one inmate was killed after being attacked by other prisoners.
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