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Shots Fired At Area Prison
August 6, 2009
Authorities have revealed that shots were fired over the weekend at an Atmore prison.
The incident happened about 3:00 Sunday morning when a guard in a tower at Fountain Correctional Facility in Atmore saw movement along a fence and thought that a prisoner was in the process of escaping. The guard fired a warning shot into the air, according to Brian Corbett, a spokesperson with the Alabama Department of Corrections. When the suspect turned toward the officer, the officer fired another shot at the man dressed in black ninja garb.
Reginald Watkins, 20, of Mobile was not hit by the shots. Before Watkins was taken into custody by officers. authorities said he tried to dump a bag that contained 13 bags of marijuana, 23 cells phones, 21 cell phone chargers, a cell phone battery, 43 assorted pills and 15 cigars. Officers believed Watkins had planned to throw the bag over the prison fence — cell phones are hot contraband for conducting criminal activity from behind bars.
Watkins was booked into the Escambia County (Ala.) Detention Center on multiple charges, including possession of a controlled substance and possession of marijuana. The charges against Watkins were all dropped by the District Attorney’s Office on Monday, Corbett said, for reasons not known to him.
Comments
16 Responses to “Shots Fired At Area Prison”
obama,fixed it for him,now they can drink a beer together and have some churces ckicken,and talk it out.
that is Alabama for you
william, please add a follow-up as soon as you find out why the DA dropped the charges…i have a burning curiosity….its hard to believe that they couldnt get his fingerprints off of the bags of illegal contraband (pills/pot) and, at the very least, charge him for that….or, maybe the prison has discovered that they are in a position of liability for having their guard shoot at an unknown individual dressed in black ninja garb, who may have just been there sightseeing or perhaps picking flowers…(article didnt say that he had the bag in his posession, while standing at the fence)…surely he suffered trauma when the gun shot soared past him…he prob has symptoms of PTSD now (and will for years)…this may be a situation of damage control, at this point….but, id love to know the REAL answer!
the fact here is HE WA TRYING TO THROW IT OVER…and he did not succeed….THIS TIME, but now that he has been set free, he WILL try again and next time he may be successful. This guy has done this type of thing before…running around on prison grounds dressed in ninja gear isn’t something i would think someone would just “casually” do…..wake up law enforcement, put HIM behind bars or he will eventually end up there on his own
I guess they will wait until there is a major shootout with fatalities before they press charges!!! Just another sign of how weak our Country is becoming. Just a slap on the wrist!!! Why doesn’t the DA just put a sign up inviting the thugs to introduce contraband!!!
No charges means this man is innocent and opens up the officer to civil and or criminal liability. This DA is stupid and needs to be voted out. I mean come on shots were fired.
If he did not have the bag in his hand he could not be charged I wonder what he was doing walking around outside the fence of a prison maybe he thought he would be safe if someone tried to take his cell phone pot and pills. Was he dressed in black. Come on Mr. D.A. what are you going to do when they start throwing over guns knive and take over our prisons or kill the guards that are only tring to the the jobs that they were hired to do. How ofter does this happen in the prison system.
Terri, you are mistaken. There was a “crime” committed. You should look at the statutory definition of “attempt”. The crime that he did commit in addition to “attempted introduction of contraband into a correctional facility” is the Possession of Controlled Substances.
As well, the person who stole your credit cards and used them did commit “Fraud–Credit Card” and could have been charged. The fact that they did not take possession did not have any bearing on the fact that they did use those cards and the fact that those cards were stolen.
Gun Control means hitting your intended target.
The Atmore prison guards need some target practice!
What did ther guard feel when he shot at the intruder?
“RECOIL”
Its a shame the tower guard did land his shots. That would be called cost effentive justice.
Maybe he cut a deal telling who on the inside wanted the drugs and cell phones. It is interesting isn’t it. He must have really practiced his throwing ability if he thought he could get the bag over that huge fence.
The key word is is TRIED.Evidently he did not succeed in throwing the bag over the fence… so “intent” is not a criminal offense since no crime was committed.! gotta love our system…..
someone stole my credit card number years back…ordered several thousands dollars in horse equipment…becausI caught the charge before UPS deleivered the goods to the
person,the law could not prosecute since she never took possession of the goods.They had her name,address,phone number and the paperwork where she used my credit card…but could not do a thing..again..ya gota love our system…
What is wrong with our DA? There should be a good reason for the charges being dropped but I can’t even imagine one!
UMM!!! Charges were dropped…What is wrong with the world today? The bad guys are getting away with way too much!!!
Yes you did!! I heard this on the Mobile news yesterday and they said they had tried to contact the Escambia County DA, but he was out of the office yesterday. Hopefully Mr. Billy (the DA) will let everyone know soon why the charges against this individual were dropped!!
Did I read that last sentence correctly?