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Corrrections Officer In Critical Condition After Being Stabbed By Holman Inmate
September 1, 2016
Alabama Department of Corrections officials report that a correctional officer was stabbed during an assault by an inmate at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore on Thursday.
The stabbing happened at 12:35 p.m. in the facility’s dining hall during the noon meal.
Prison officials report the inmate assaulted and stabbed the officer in retaliation for being denied an extra tray of food. Correctional officers responded to the incident and were able to restrain the inmate and give aid to the injured officer.
The officer was airlifted in critical condition to an area hospital.
Inmate Cleveland Cunningham was detained as a suspect in the stabbing. Cunningham is serving a 20-year sentence on a 2013 first-degree robbery conviction from Baldwin County. Cunningham was segregated from general population without further incident.
No other inmates were involved in the stabbing. The facility was placed on lockdown while ADOC officials investigate the incident.
The ADOC is not releasing the name of the officer pending the ongoing investigation.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Comments
34 Responses to “Corrrections Officer In Critical Condition After Being Stabbed By Holman Inmate”
REGARDING:
“WRONG David, you think you know so much but you know so little! The term disrespect gets used a lot also, well when you refer to a Correctional Officer as a “Guard”, you are disrespecting him or her.”
Not inherently, no. Out of respect for their tender feelings, I don’t personally use the term “guard” but it is not a disrespectful name. It makes no assumption of poor training or is in any other way indicative of disdain for what they do.
Sure, some have sullied the name by selling out or not doing their jobs properly but the title doesn’t undo the damage or legitimately smear the others who were faithful to their duties, just as looking down on workers at Walmart doesn’t make others better. In fact, saying they can be better paid elsewhere implies the ones who haven’t couldn’t but the title just doesn’t affect anything.
This entire article drives home the seriousness of the job. It wouldn’t've mattered if the title were “slime holder” or “Master of Misbehavers.” The job gives the title honor or dishonor not the other way around.
And most importantly, I hope the Correctional Officer, our guardian, recovers.
David for good people
Who is starving it may not be shrimp and steak but I have yet to see one inmates starving in my 11 years of working at a prison they are all buffed up and no where near bony or starving so the whole they don’t get fed enough is bs.Their behavior is a consequence of no real actions to bad behavior they are not punishing inmates for horrible acts in a effort to get them out on time or early and then wonder why they get out and act up too.They whine and cry to people on the outside whoa is me to guilt them to send money for canteen or other things for contraband purposes or gambling.They are blowing peoples money on the outside who feel bad for them and if they don’t send it they talk to them like they are nothing and don’t appreciate all that their families are going thru to go without to send them money.So no I see too much to feel bad for munipulators,liar,theifs,killers and rapist sorry they don’t so I don’t either.
Obama, Bush, and Scott sure are getting a lot of hate on a story about an Alabama prison.
WRONG David, you think you know so much but you know so little! The term disrespect gets used a lot also, well when you refer to a Correctional Officer as a “Guard”, you are disrespecting him or her. People seem to think that these men and women are untrained, well that is far from the truth. What they are is under paid. Their training through the Florida Department of Correction is enough to get them hired at the County Jail level where the pay is higher and the conditions are better. Many State of Florida trained Correctional Officers leave the Department when their probationary period is up to move on to the county. That is why the State of Florida Correctional Institutions are under staffed. Pay these Officers a fair wage with better benefits and they might stay.
Somebody Stupid said thanks Obama. I worked for FLDOC.The prisons started going to hell when Jeb Bush was the governor. It has continued to get worse under Scott.These guys haven’t had a cost of living raise in almost TEN YEARS! Scott is just hoping nothing big goes down until his term is over.Then it will be someone else’s problem.
“If you have not ever worked in this environment I really feel you have no right to speak on who has control or not.”
I never could stand this line of reasoning. If you’ve never been a policeman, you can’t criticize the police…if you’ve never been in combat, you can’t talk about war…if you’ve never held office, you can’t criticize a politician…if you’ve never played football, you can’t talk about sports.
It’s a bunch of bull to think that people of varying life experiences can’t analyze a situation and apply reason to that situation. Trying to stifle discussion is so un-American.
@Root, I would totally back you & I totally agree with you, those inmates are fed what they’re supposed to be fed not like we do on the outside & get second & 3rd helpings, that’s what these families of inmates don’t understand they’re getting fed but not what they want or the amount. They’re not working so therefore they do not need anymore & @ least they’re getting more than bread & water. Also if they don’t want to starve then my advice would be to get a job & work & stay out of trouble & for the families to stop making excuses for them, & they might aught to just make the families pay for everything period beings they want to take up for them. I might even go along for taking care of the family members that wants to keep protecting them & thinking it might be okay to harm another person for not giving the inmate an extra plate @ the same time they’re taking care of whatever punishment gets bestowed on the inmate, myself & when one says you can’t kill me or hurt me, I got a kid or two to take care of, well I hate it, so do alot of the officers, that actually take care of their kids. I might have pity for you & a kid as I pray for kids parents & guardians in general but before I’m gonna take care of yours mine will be cared for. I can be pretty selfish when need be. Families to inmates, the officers have families too & they haven’t left their kids, wives, husbands, mothers, fathers or siblings to the outside world for others to care for them. The officers families depend on them. So sickofit, you might want to tell yo man, that IT IS WRONG to stab a person just because you don’t get another plate, also stop giving his plate to other inmates by means of staying out of trouble in prison. Ya’ll people will believe everything they tell ya’ll. They played ya’ll on the streets & they still playing ya’ll. Yo man gettin all the food he needs & they don’t deserve that when the officers kids can’t get everything they want. Have you tried buying groceries that includes the exact amount what a child needs on a day to day basis? going by the food chart that I may add, you know the fruits meats, etc well I’m here to tell ya, yo man does for FREE, so go wipe your nose & stop boo hooing & just shut up complaining
Whats next? Some will say the CO should not have jump into the slimes shank. The prisons are run by the inmates and bleeding heart idiots.
Sickofit must have taken one look at the picture of this scumbag and realized he is on the brink of starvation. Yeah right! Unless the people in this country demand that our laws are followed by everybody (and that includes illegal immigrants) and are willing to act on it, it will lead to total anarchy. You cannot have a civilized society when you are more concerned that you may hurt law breakers’ feelings by not catering to their wishes. .
@Robert. I had to reread your comment twice because I couldn’t believe youreally believed what you posted.. Really?? This prisoner is there to do time for a crime he committed. It’s not a vacation spa or a never ending smorgasbord. So he’s still hungry and feels it’s his right to stab a man, critically, because he didn’t get what he wanted? Tough! Now he’ll be able to go hungry for more years added to his sentence. He has a bed and three square meals— that’s more that many of our homeless veterans and elderly people have. My theory:, If you act like a rabid dog… then let’s label them as such.
My son is a Correctional Officer and their hands are literally tied when it come to dealing with these prisoners, seems they(the prisoners) have more rights than the Officers. If they could deal with these scum bags like they used to with an iron fist it would help stop some of this total disrespect for the law. Thank You Obama!!! Lets let him go to! You are so naïve and simple minded, your pathetic.
Holman’s out of control, like I have said before, when prisoners do this, go in with AR’s blazing, aim center mass, drop anyone standing, that will straighten this prison out right quick.
My prayers are with my thin blue line brother
Some people are just “born bad” and it is beyond humanity’s attempts to change them,they CANNOT be rebuilt or reformed.I believe these types must be banished from our society after a period of attempts to change them.An island in the middle of nowhere to live amoung their own kind… with no return!!!
Think about how ANY hungry animal acts? All animals will FIGHT for food if they are hungry. If a hungry dog bit the neighbor because he was hungry would we blame the dog or the owner who didn’t feed the dog? Most people treat criminals like dogs so why should they act any other way?
It’s sad, but with all the crap going on in the world today, the job isn’t worth it any more. I watched a news report tha other day where one department has over 100 open positions and aren’t getting enough applicants to fill any of the positions. The agency has lost over 70 Officers this year alone. The Chief said either they’re quitting for higher paying jobs and/or their families are telling their loved ones to get out of the field altogether. Over the years, inmates have gotten so many rights given to them, it’s become unsafe for an Officer to even be in the environment. I hope the Officer recovers and the inmate goes to isolation for the rest of his term in there. But we all know he’ll eventually be allowed back out into general population. Our system at it’s best.
Big Jim, “Looks like new adminstration is in order… seems like ever two weeks a major event happens there”, This is the same place where their Warden was stabbed not to long ago during inmate confrontations. Without the proper tools in place that allow the control of inmates, no administration will be able to stop this. The people we, as a society, vote into office need to pull their head out of their butts and allow the staff to control these people. The public needs to remember what these criminals have done in order to get their selves put into prison in the first place. I would walk through the gates with this warden and can only pray that before I retire I would be lucky enough to have a warden that would walk the front lines with his Officers like this man has.
My mom works there. She says it’s the worst she has ever seen in her 26 of working in corrections. Correctional officers do not get enough credit. They put there lives on the line to criminal like this scumbag confined away from society. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.
Prisons now a days are nothing but sinking ships… And instead of plugging the holes now, they will wait till it’s on the ocean floor and say, “Don’t blame us, we didn’t know”….They are under staffed, and what staff they have are severely underpaid…. Their infrastructure is crumbling and the Correctional Officer staff goes to work most days with a feelings of hopelessness and helplessness…
When I started in corrections in the 1990’s if inmates assaulted staff they were delt with in away that deterred that behavior…. Now a days if an inmate wants a quick transfer just assault staff…. He’ll have plenty of the institutions admistrators there to protect him… It pains me to know that many more Correctional Officers will have to be severely injured and or killed before anything will be done… And I wonder then will state’s governing bodies
take responsibility for what their fiscal mismanagement and lack of responsibility has created….
It’s very simple…. If you see your tire is flat, what is there to talk about???? If are loosing good staff at alarming rates because they can’t live on bread crumbs. Give them a raise. You’ve identified the problem… Fix it…. If your prisons are unsafe because they are under staffed…. What is there to talk about???? Once again, you’ve identified the problem… Fix it….. If your buildings are crumbling, you have equipment that is failing…. What is there to talk about????? Fix the problem… Oh wait…. They claim they don’t have the money…. Well folks…. They had the money, where did it go…. Ya see fiscal mismanagement was not the officer who got stabbed today’s fault…. But he paid the price for it…. That officer’s safety was not a priority in the state…. Because if it was…. This probably would not have happened…
I send prayers to this officer and pray for his family in this tragic time… I also pray for the safety for all Correctional Officers in both Florida and Alabama…. And I pray that common sence will prevail and these officers will go to work knowing that they are loved and cared for by the powers that be and pay and staffing will quickly be a distant memory and they can go back to the business of dealing with convicts and making prisons safe again….
CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS LIVES MATTER! Praying for the officer and his family. This should never have happen. Alabama and Florida management know the prisons are understaffed. Get more officers hired and stop playing politics. Maybe management or the people making the decisions should put some of their family members in prisons to work. Then we would see how quickly more officers would be hired. Officers lives are more important than any amount of $$$$$$.
@ sickofit- Ur husband,boyfriend,lover or someone close must be in prison for you to know that much about it. At any rate they deserve to be in the heat and not get good food or much of it. In my opinion most of them need to have the same thing done to them that they did to somebody else to get in there. If they have harmed anybody they need to be put to SLOW death by one of the victims family member that has the balls to do it. Bottom line is somebody like me needs to be in charge of all of the states prison system and we wouldn’t all be paying all these tax dollars that goes to feed and house these animals. All the CO’s need to go on strike until they get about a $10 hr pay raise for having to deal with all these morons.
REGARDING:
“If you have not ever worked in this environment I really feel you have no right to speak on who has control or not.”
People may choose to ignore what is said and what is said may be wise, foolish, learned or ignorant, but the question regarding the RIGHT to speak shouldn’t even come up. People have the right to speak. If we don’t, we are all prisoners.
What is more, jumping on people for using the term “guard” instead of the currently favored “correctional officer” is another attempt to control what people can say. Historically the term “guard” was used for those doing the job. Changing the name doesn’t change the duties or the dangers. Unless they actually correct things, the name is plumb silly. We put up with it out of respect for the wishes of those guarding the rest of us from dangerous people, but that’s just because we appreciate the job done.
I hope the officer is okay.
David for freedom, decency, gratitude
All my prayers go out to the Officer and his family, and to all of the Officers everywhere, may we all be safe.
No other country has ” better” prisons. My heart is filled for the victim and his family. Our prisons are not as strict and are under staffed.
You have to make an example every now and then; the inmates certainly realize that fact.
I remember when the COs were in control of the inmates, not the reverse order.
Correctional officers have been working under staffed in unsafe conditions for a long time and no one seems to be doing anything about it. I think it’s time for the officers to stand up and say we are not going to do it like this anymore walk off the job until we get better pay better equipment and safer working conditions I don’t think it’s to much to ask
Lone chief; let’s get the terminology correct, we are not talking about guards at Walmart. The correct term is Correctional Officer, these are trained men and women that do a job not many others want to do. The Correctional Officer work long hours for little pay. Florida’s Correctional Officers have not seen a pay raise in years. Florida Governor and Legislators treat these Officer as Red Haired Stepchildren. The Head of Florida’s Department of Correction Julie Jones does not support her people. She walks unto a prison compound and shakes the hand of an inmate and refuses the hand of an Officer. Is rthat support? No it is contempt able.
This is only going to continue to happen, not that the inmate was right for stabbing the guard, because that is awful, but they need to start feeding the inmates more, look you have a bunch of hungry people that are stuck in a warehouse with no ac, with inside temps getting higher than 110 degrees, what do you expect to happen? Food served is not fit for anyone, and they are getting less and less of it. NO the inmate should not have stabbed the CO, but they have a serious situation on their hands and it’s only going to get worse.
Looks like new adminstration is in order… seems like ever two weeks a major event happens there..Human behavior can not be predicted but bad behavior should be dealt with swiftly.
A suspect? they are convicts they are all suspect, anyway when they figure out which scumbag did it, 20 years should be added to the existing sentence for attempted murder of a correctional officer. When one screws up they all should pay, maybe then they will start policing themselves and bring a teaspoon of order to an order less society
If you have not ever worked in this environment I really feel you have no right to speak on who has control or not. Take a trip to the prison and let them lock you in a room with over 100 inmates and just yourself to control them. See how well you fair.
@lone chief – very few of these inmates are willing to make any effort to improve themselves. They are perfectly content doing what it takes to earn their “street cred” and being slugs of society. For the most part a bullet to the back of the head would be the best alternative for society. The only one who would miss them may be their mama.
Saw this coming. With all the riots and stabbing going on right now it was inevitable. Prayers for the officer and the chair for the inmate.
I really don’t understand how the US runs prisons. It doesn’t seem to rehabilitate very many to be successfully reintroduced into society, instead they seem to only fine tune their evil craft, and get into better physical shape. We might start taking suggestions from elsewhere how to manage and attempt to change the mind-set of these criminals. Guards are NOT in control. Hope the C.O. comes out of this fine.