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Riot At Holman Prison; Warden And Guard Stabbed, Fires Set
March 12, 2016
There was an uprising overnight at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore that has now ended with the stabbing of a corrections officer and the warden. The situation is now under control.
Videos and photos posted to social media from inmates show fires burning inside a dorm control area an inmates roaming a general population dorm area freely with their faces covered, some with large pieces of metal being held as weapons.
“Attention: We need yall help here at Holman Correction Facility Prison. The police down here beating on and jus treating us any kind way. We down here fighting for are lifes. Please contact the News, Newspaper, Radio station. NCAAP. Help please,” stated one Facebook post.
According to the Alabama Department of Corrections, the first assault happened at approximately 9:15 p.m. Friday, when the correctional officer responded to a fight between two inmates in one of the prison dorms. The officer was stabbed when he tried to detain one of the inmates involved in the fight. He was reportedly stabbed as many as nine times, sources tell NorthEscambia.com.
When Warden Carter Davenport and other officers entered the dorm to assess the situation, Davenport was stabbed. Davenport remained at the prison and was treated on-site for his injuries. The injured officer was transported to an offsite medical facility. Davenport and the officer’s injuries are reported as non-life threating. No other officers were injured.
After the assaults, inmates gained access to a hallway just outside the housing unit and started a fire. In response to the situation, the Alabama Department of Corrections deployed three Correctional Emergency Response Teams (CERT) to the prison. The CERT teams were able to successfully enter the dorm about 5:00 a.m., detain the inmates, and secure the area. It is estimated that approximately 100 inmates were involved in the disturbance.
The uprising was limited to a single dormitory style open housing unit, and there were no issues in the remainder of the prison, our source said. Death row and other highly secured inmates remained quiet during the night.
The Department of Corrections acknowledged that some inmates inside the prison were able to publish photos of the disturbance using social media. Corrections officers and the CERT teams are conducting a complete search of the prison for illegal cell phones and other contraband.
The inmates who were responsible for assaulting the officer and warden, and other inmates involved in the disturbance, have been segregated from the prison’s general population. Investigators from the ADOC Investigations and Intelligence Division are on site at the prison to assist the CERT teams and to conduct a thorough investigation into the disturbance.
Criminal charges are pending against the inmates who were involved in the incident.
The prison is secured and will remain on lockdown until ADOC completes its investigation.
Numerous photos and videos were leaked to Facebook and other social media. A video (LINK WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE) allegedly shows the inside of the dormitory with the uprising. It purports to show inmates moving freely about and a fire burning in a central control station.
ABOUT HOLMAN
The William C. Holman Correctional Facility was constructed in 1968 and 1969. The facility was officially open in December, 1969, at a cost of five million dollars. The first prisoner was received on December 15, 1969.
The Holman Correctional Facility houses Death Row inmates and is the only facility in the state that carries out executions.
The present population of Holman C. F. consists of minimum through closed custody inmates, including life without parole and Death Row inmates. The living quarters have a total capacity of 998 available beds. There are 630 population beds with Housing Units A-D having a capacity of 114 each and Housing Unit E with a capacity of 174. There are 7 infirmary beds. There are 200 segregation unit beds and Death Row has a capacity of 194 for a total of 1031 beds.
Holman is located ten miles north of Atmore, Alabama, just east of Highway 21 on Ross Road. The perimeter of the security compound is surrounded by two fences. The inner fence is taut wire fence with the outer fence being chain link. The compound has six towers and two perimeter vehicles, which operate twenty four hours a day. During the hours of darkness, the perimeter is fully lighted.
In 2007 the housing units in general population were remodeled with single beds and an updated bath room area.
Comments
52 Responses to “Riot At Holman Prison; Warden And Guard Stabbed, Fires Set”
Yes Nate, that’s why I said prison is punishment, not a hotel. I did not say Holman was any different.
By the the way, lots of people get pious when they get caught.
To the person who thinks Alabama prisons are like “hotels” you are a ignorant moron!! You have no earthly clue as to what you are talking about!! I’ve done time in Alabama for drug trafficking 3 1/2years and my Lil brother is serving a life sentence at Draper, one of Alabamas worst prisons!! Due to a heroin addiction unfortunately I have done Lil amounts of time all over the country and HANDS DOWN Alabama was the worst!! No air conditioning, no cable TV not a hotel!! My time in Alabama was the worst time of my entire life!! However by doing that time I managed with the help of Jesus Christ I changed my life!! But I wish people wouldn’t talk about things that they have absolutely no idea what they are talking about! Doing time in Alabama is a absolute nightmare! People getting raped in the shower next to you as your showering is a daily occurrence, along with people getting stabbed, people getting there heads beat in, if any of this sounds like any hotel you’ve ever stayed at, there are way better choices out there!
Handle them prisoners like they did at Attica that’ll take care of the problem.
And prison is punishment, not a free hotel to take a vacation in. Those inmates out in Arizona wish they had color tv & air conditioning. They live in tents & wear pink outfits.:)
Riot teams with batons, tear gas, tasers, & German Shepherds, should be enough to set things straight.
Just as an FYI: If Facebook or any other social media sites know that an inmate or his family is posting to an open account (or the family doing it for him or her), then they will shut it down. If the prison can identify who is doing what, and let the social media managers know, they can get it stopped. The problem goes to understaffing, poor pay and overcrowed prison conditions. To really stop contraband and conduct conclusive, solid investigations, you need the personnel to do so.
Hang tough fellow CO’s!
smh – I second your opinion. I was glad to see that the media was kept away from the prison yesterday and the officials did not give them an opportunity to portray to the public that the unfortunate prisoners are not allowed to own cell phones -don’t have enough meal choices on their daily menus – not have enough privacy and time during their conjugal visits – blah, blah, blah, blah….
“Videos and photos posted to social media from inmates”
Why do the inmates have cell phones and access to the social media sites? This is ridiculous!
Look at their use of grammar and spelling and you can see why they are in prison. They didn’t even know how to spell out NAACP! When you choose not to learn, you choose to be a loser.
1) cell phones are a huge problem, and some inmates will literally attack an officer to give another inmate time to hide the phone. 2) Corrections Officers are overworked and underpaid. We get NO respect from the public, yet we are alone in a dorm with 100-300 inmates with only a radio and some pepper spray for HOURS at a time. 3) We have little to no ability to repremand inmates because they beat the charges we write them up for by calling their moms and complaining about mean ole officer so and so, then their moms call the WARDEN. The officer, who was just doing their job, gets put under investigation. 4) Inmates have nothing but time to think of ways to get contraband in, make weapons, and think of ways to corrupt staff or get them fired. They don’t have access to much gym equipment, they make it with laundry bags and books and the lockers that are intended for the storage of their property, or their BEDS. 5) The public will NEVER understand the feelings we as officers have when an inamte looks you straight in the eye and tells you how they are going to kill you, because you put them in confinement for having a cell phone, and you see them back on the compound two weeks later because they say the phone wasn’t theirs or you must have planted it on them. The public will never understand what its like to be trapped in an officers station unable to leave because if you do there’s no one to push the nessicarry buttons to open doors while you call for help on the radio because your fellow officer is being assaulted right in front of you.
Inmates are peoples sons and husbands and fathers, but they are also drug dealers, drug addicts, rapist, thieves, murderers, and dangerous people. Stop taking away the officers rights to give more freedom to those we are supposed to be protecting YOU from.
Unless you have ever worked in a prison,you will never know what it’s like…people look at these prisoners as their bother,father,husband,wife,sister etc…they don’t see the 5 people that they killed execution style,or the child that they Sodomized and raped, or the drugs that they sold, or the house that they broke into and took everything that someone else worked hard for,etc…they don’t see how disrespectful some of those inmates are to the underpayed,understaffed correctional officers or how the correctional officers put their lives on the line everyday when they go to work with only a small can of spray,a stick and their voice,when the inmates have prison made knives and all types of weapons that they have only time to make in the prison…it’s only 2 Co’s to 200 inmates and those 2 have to deal with 200 different types of people and keep them in line and behind bars so that you undercover scary people who are protecting them can go on about your daily lives and not have to be scared of those convicts getting out of prison…unless you have worked in a prison,you have NO idea how it is…everyone allows the media to betray law enforcement as so bad and yes their are bad cops,bad Co’s just like there is good and bad people in the entire world and truthfully not all inmates are a problem, but people will never truly know what it’s like…so all of you taking up for and believing everything that is in the media, continue to sit in your comfortable homes, watching your big screen TV’s or reading your monitors or cellphone screens and taking the inmates side while the good Co’s are putting their lives on the line to keep inmates behind bars to keep your families from experiencing what someone else’s family did…
I wish for a speedy recovery of the guard and warden. Sounds like they are very lucky to be alive.
There are devices on the market that will jam cell phones, call cell phones, show locations, etc. all in one unit. And legal for use by the FCC with proper court permissions. Maybe not cheap but one unit could be used in every facility on a rotating schedule.
The technology exists if they wantto use it and of course spend the money.
“A ALEX” with ya. These people are in prison, why Facebook and cel phones. Heck, if I gave one of my kids a “time out”, they didn’t have these tools. Prisoners, what the heck has this world come too?
They don’t need no freedom.They did the crime let them do time. No tv reactions no fun things to do.
When the People of the State of Alabama, and other state see that these are convicts and not little boys that did not get up and go to Sunday school with Grand mother for 2 weeks and know they are in Prison for a reason maybe then y’all will let us do something with them. They are not there something stupid. These are the Worst of the worst.
Contraband Phones, Drugs, and Inmates having more rights then the ones protecting them and the public. We can hope the ones who stabbed these Officers go straight to the chair. Im sure all the hug a thugs will come out the wood work now. Blue lifes matter
CONTEMPLATING:
” riots after riots. End of times can’t be to far off.”
Riots go back a long way.
Not a valid sign of “end times”.
David for cottages, birds, flowers and butterflies
Kane…you should check your facts. The inmates in the florida prison system have better medical and dental than most working folks on the street. The private medical provider has given the state notice they will be quitting their contract, but at no time are inmates without health care. They also have their dorms inspected, daily, for maintenance and comfort. The kitchens are inspected daily for cleanliness, maintenance and pest control. These guys are better taking care of than your children at daycare and school.
Y’all have lost your darn minds being more concerned about prisoners having access to social media over the officer and warden being attacked ! Good thing their ok but it could’ve easily went the other way. Thats the immediate problem. Why, how, and what needs to be done to prevent this. You look at them having phones as they just shouldn’t cause their in prison. Prison officials look at it as a security threat however, their abundant in every prison system and I haven’t heard of a big plot to break out yet. Contraband will never be controlled. Attacks can be by ah, we’ll call it behavioral modification. Yet when thats done, some of the same people here will cry out in favor of the poor inmates.
It’s really sad they always talk bout the wrong inmates do but truth be known the jail and prison system have been and is still covering up treating people like they’re not Evan a person anymore. Yea I understand those people shouldn’t have done wrong to go there but the system isn’t fixing the problem they only making it worse.
Inmates aren’t “allowed” to have cell phones or drugs, hence the term CONTRABAND. smh. You have idiots that risk their own freedom throwing bags of it over the fences & it’s sad to say but there are some staff that get caught up & smuggle it in. Another sad truth is that prisons are extremely short staffed & often times aren’t able to do something about every situation. You have no clue unless you’ve ever worked at one.
They always talk bout what the inmates did but the truth be known the cops in the jail and prison system do allot of wrongful things to people just because their inmates. Now I get that if they didn’t do anything wrong to go there they wouldn’t have to worry bout this but no one deserves to b treated like a dog. More needs to be done to help fix these people not help them find their way back. The system has been and is still being covered up
KANE, if a dog bites me I would bash his head in. When people act like animals they need to be treated like animals. The prisons should be run by the warden, not the thugs that have broken the law and are serving time.
You people have no clue! Nicole these inmates that bring this stuff from off sides of road shove stuff so far up there butt you can’t see it and it don’t fall out when they squat and cough! There are employees that bring this stuff in to these inmates illegally! They are risking lots of lives by doing so! They only care about the illegal money they are making! There is also contraband always being thrown over the fence!
Well gee Nicole, I don’t know why anyone never thought of that. You are brilliant.
NCAAP?! NAACP, N, double A, C, P! Wow…
This is horrible what has happened at Holman Prison. I pray that the guards and staff who were hurt will be ok. I am tired of paying to keep these people behind bars and they are living better than I. I feel like, Nicole, an eye for an eye! We as Alabamians and Americans are allowing this to happen. The contraband coming in with staff??? And with visitors??? Where is the leadership??? It will be interesting to hear the report after the 100% audit/inspection. I doubt the public will ever hear what that entails.
These inmates have done the crime and been convicted……they need to be punished for what they have done. I agree also on bringing back the chain gangs! As far as, helping them with their education to make them a better citizen when getting out. I am ok with this. They really need a trade more than anything else. The prisoner themselves are the only ones who can make the decision to be a better person when out of prison.
Most have no fear of returning to prison….that is why there needs to be a change and the change starts at the top! Who is the head of our prisons? Also, our dear Gov. Bentley needs to step up and see that this is done. No more Mr. Nice Guy!
I personally am tired of my hard earned dollars going to pay for these prisoners who do not care about anyone but themselves!
Thanks to William and NorthEscambia.com for bringing this story and I look forward to see what else is to come.
As I see it the prison have more rights than the Guards, They are to here to make a living for their families but the system is so messed up the guards can’t push the or skoll them because it against the rule. so the Officers get wrote up for trying to keep these prison in line it a loosing battle. Why do prison get BBQ and picnics? these people eat better than some of our families do. They need to start at the top and get the rules back in place.Make it safe for the guards so they can go home to their families at the end of a shift. The people in high place should know this is not a vacation for the prisoners. Do the crime do the Time not in Air condition and every kinf of food you want. What happen to beans and bread?
Well, I honestly didn’t pay attention to whether they were on social media via the computers in the prison, which I was told by an officer/guard they have “limited access” to, or a contraband cell phone. Either way, they get it past the system somehow. Everything else they get for free isn’t contraband. I understand medical care is needed to prevent spread of disease amongst inmates and staff, but the system is flawed from the ground up. I don’t have the answer of how to fix it other than it has to start at home when they’re young- Good parenting and God, and it’s not too late for these guys to find God. That goes for the inmates and the lawmakers. Maybe they will start doing more shakedowns and confinement in there to find contraband and punish those that have it. I heard a rumor that people throw items on the side of the road and the prisoners who are on work release or at the work camp pr whatever pick it up when they’re out on detail. They need to shake them down before they go back in. Do it good every time! Maybe they do, I don’t know, or maybe the guards get too laxed and trust too much, or maybe some are in on it too for money. I heard that the “good inmates” or “trusted ones” pick up the stuff and sell it to the “bad ones” and then they use for stuff such as this. Anyway, I just hope all you prayer warriors remember all the lost souls in prison, and those who influence them, when you pray. Peace out
Place all the offenders in isolation for six months fed water and dry toast sparingly. Just enough to keep them alive. Attitudes will change.
I can see how the population can not fathom the fact that inmates can get cell phones in Prison.
I can promise you, they get drugs of all kinds, as well as cell phones.
l Prayers out to all………
You people don’t pay attention much , do you.
A story on here a month back about a teenager arrested outside the fence with cell phones and drugs to throw over the fence.
Staff smuggling phones in…..
NO THEIR NOT SUPPOSED TO HAVE PHONES!!!!
Common sense can answer the big question here, its called contraband folks. The prisoners are not just given access to cell phones, internet or social media. It’s a crazy concept I know…..but a lot of items are smuggled into prisons every single day………….
The fact that they are allowed to be on social media is just unbelievable! I was shocked when I read that! What’s the point of prison these days?? They should not be allowed to communicate with anyone outside of prison! It’s like they’re in some sort of glorified adult time out, not prison! No wonder there are so many repeat offenders- they really don’t have any Earthly consequential punishment to fear! Only God’s judgement, which they obviously don’t fear either. That’s why they need the Lord! We all do! He’s the ONLY one who can help this situation! I pray for the inmates, the prison staff, both of their families and everyone they come in contact with! I pray for our government, for our county. May we all seek Him and may we all find forgiveness and a desire to live for Him and encourage each other to have faith, that we may all glorify His name, be the salt of the Earth! Take our babies to Church! Lead by example! Work and pray for each other to make the decisions that would please Him! I pray for patience and long suffering to be able to wait on His timing and have no bitterness towards each other. May something good come out of the bad. In Jesus name, I pray.
Prison is a JOKE! I’ve often wondered why don’t criminals think like me? One of the several reasons I don’t do crimes is because I don’t want to go to prison and don’t want to be treated like a criminal, but I’ve learned that prisoners actually have it- and for some- even better in prison than they did on the streets! You think they had gym membership, cable, Internet, free meals, free health and dental when they were on their own, before they came to prison? I highly doubt it! There are innocent babies and children and elderly who’d never harm a flea who can’t get food, medical and dental! Meanwhile you’ve got these uncivilized barbarian criminals- AND YES- these criminals in this artical are just that- meanwhile they are in “prison” for in most cases repetitively either raping, assaulting, killing, stealing, doping and dealing, etc. just chillin posting on Facebook, body building and scheming on how to AGAIN commit assault and attempted murder on innocent prison guards who may have also an innocent and law abiding family at home. The ones that stabbed the guards should get equal punishment in my opinion…an eye for an eye. That’s what’s wrong with this world…people like them think – no, they KNOW, they can commit crimes and get away with it…and get even better treatment and care than law abiding people!!!!
You are in prison for crimes committed, add to your charges of having contraband, inciting a riot/or participating in a riot. SMH. You did the crime, now do the time.
I can’t help but notice the muscles on the guy in the first pic. They need to remove all of the gym equipment from prisons, except maybe a treadmill. There’s no reason for the inmates to be stronger than the guards.
Some of y’all are more concerned about them having cell phones than y’all are about the officers safety. The cell phone issue is a never ending battle. These officer’s are only given a can of pepper spray for a weapon while inmates are using whatever they can to make weapons.
@ A.Alex, Good Grief, Charges Pending, Rodney. Obviously none of you read the full article were it is pointed out that the entire prison is being searched for illegal contraband including cell phones. You are all very naïve if you don’t think that people smuggle things into prisons that should not be there. It is a constant struggle to keep such things out of the hands of prisoners. @ DEBBIE you do not read the news very often do you madam? Our prison system here in Fl. that is has no medical establishment taking care of the prisoners. The last company in charge of medical told the state of Fl. that they could not cover the cost of inmate health for the small amount of money the state was willing to pay. The state of prisons is deplorable unless your rich then you can go to posh prisons yeah look it up. You would not treat an animal the way we treat our fellow man it is shameful and yes I know they are prisoners and deserve punishment.
A cell phone jamming system will stop the need for cell phones in the prison system but by fcc law it is an illegal tool to use. So the prison system needs to get approval from the fcc since it’s a governmental owned facility by way of the state of Alabama.
thug life at its best. Hey, you’re in prison for a reason……its no vacation. The spelling alone leads me to believe that you’re not incredibly well educated. Take advantage of the prison’s education system and plan on WORKING when you get out. Am I the only one that noticed this…..what the heck is the NCAAP? This guy can’t even spell the acronym correctly for the people he thinks he wants help from!
Inmates should NOT have access to social media! I went thru hell about 4 years ago when a man I went to highschool with who is in prison began messaging my then 15 year old daughter on Facebook. We blocked him and he’d create another profile and do it again. I called the warden and was told they had no access. Tgen,he had their rooms searched and found a cell phone. It doesn’t make me feel very safe to know they so easily are able to do such things.
Prisoners were posting pictures and videos on social media? How in the world? The ones dumb enough to do that should be put in the hole for a long, long time.
they are in prison. Not Holiday Inn
Why are inmates allowed access to social media or the internet?
So the investigation into the inmates have cell phones and posting to social media from inside the prison must be ongoing right? I mean surely inmates aren’t allowed to update their twitter account and Facebook status throughout the day…
Enough is enough, none of these inmates went to prison for praising the lord and being in Sunday school. They are clothed, fed, medical care, with our money. How dare them hurt each other and the officers, God bless them they know no other way than violence. There is so much that could be done to help these people, but politics and money is a big problem, and some of the inmates themselves. I am sure it is awful being there, but you are, try to help by figuring out non violent ways of getting along and starting new life programs. My saying is they are all guilty until proven innoncent. What if it was your mother that was murdered for no reason?
Prisoners have access to social media??? WHY!?!?
Well if your a prisoner, your not at Club Med. Your there because you broke the law, the guards didn’t start the riot the inmates did. If you don’t like the way you are treated maybe you should not of broke the law and ended up there. You didn’t care about the person you robbed, shot, killed, stole from etc. So get a grip and do your time!!!!
WHY DO INMATES HAVE PHONES AND ACCESS TO FACEBOOK.THOUGHT THEY WERE IN PRISON.
This is horrible, I’m glad to hear the officer and warden will be ok. The prison systems get worse by the day. Holman is one among many dangerous prisons. The inmates really have nothing to loose by starting any kind of trouble. Its sad that the officers make so little in pay but risk their lives everytime they walk through the doors to go to work… This is just one of the horrible problems going on in the USA… My heart goes out to all the officers that had to be at work when this happened.
They’re treating them “jus any kind way”… Then why are you the ones with your faces covered, holding weapons and starting fires? That makes sense. If you love your family so much, why don’t you do your time quietly and not get involved in the hate? Be a leader and not a follower, be different. Don’t get caught up in the trash.
Thanks for reporting… This jus shows what our country is coming too, riots after riots. End of times can’t be to far off.