The Minnesota state prison at Stillwater remained on lockdown Monday after an inmate assaulted and injured two corrections officers during a weekend cell search.
According to Minnesota Department of Corrections spokeswoman Sarah Fitzgerald, the officers were attacked during a routine search at 4:40 p.m. Saturday. One officer was treated and released from Lakeview Hospital in Stillwater, while another "more significantly injured" officer was treated and released at Regions Hospital in St. Paul. The assault will be referred to the Washington County Attorney's Office for consideration of charges.
The inmate responsible for the assault was moved to the Maximum Security Administrative Control Unit at the Oak Park Heights prison, while the Stillwater facility remains on lockdown "until more information can be obtained, and we can evaluate how this incident connects to an assault at the end of January, and any other issues in the facility," Fitzgerald said. Late last month, two correctional officers were injured under similar circumstances.
In 2018, a Stillwater prisoner attacked and killed correctional officer Joseph Gomm in the prison's industrial building, which resulted in calls from correctional officers for increased safety measures, such as additional cameras and staffing.
Edward Muhammad Johnson, who was already incarcerated for murder, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for killing Gomm, 45, the first such death of an on-duty Minnesota corrections officer.
