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ADOC: Incident occurred April 26, where 3 inmates were injured; CERT was called

Three inmates were injured in a late-night assault involving 11 on April 26 at William C. Holman Correctional Facility just outside Atmore, according to the Alabama Department of Corrections.

ADOC Public Information Officer Bob Horton said in a release that two of the three inmates were taken to a local hospital and treated for non life-threatening stab wounds.

“The inmates were later released back to ADOC’s custody,” Horton said. “A third inmate was treated at the facility’s infirmary for minor injuries.”

Horton said following the incident and as a precautionary measure, the ADOC deployed a correctional emergency response team (CERT) to augment the staff during each of the facility’s daily shifts.

“Prison officials reported that the incident was isolated to one housing area and that no other inmates were involved,” he said. “Eight inmates who were identified as suspects in the assault were moved to different facilities for security reasons.”

The ADOC is not releasing the names of the inmates at this time, he said.

The circumstances that led to the incident remain under investigation.

Earlier this month, the ADOC conducted a joint law enforcement operation at the prison that targeted illegal contraband.

The operation led to the seizure of illegal drugs, weapons, cellphones and various types of electronic devices. The operation recovered 356 makeshift weapons, 91 grams of meth, 98 grams of marijuana, some cocaine, more than 400 assorted pills, and 16 cell phones.   

Holman, a maximum security prison with 827 inmates, of which 148 are on death row, is required to have 166 correctional officers with 53 on staff.      

The ADOC is pursuing new options to increase correctional officer staffing through ongoing collaboration with the Alabama Personnel Department, and has also been working to pass legislation surrounding compensation, which would be extremely beneficial for hiring and retaining correctional staff, Horton said.

The legislation would allow for a 5 percent pay raise along with incentive bonuses for career milestones for security staff.

ADOC’s strategic plan, to be released early May, will highlight several additional initiatives intended to reverse long-established trends negatively affecting our prison system. To embrace these initiatives quickly and comprehensively, the department will need additional support. An increase in resources will enable ADOC to build on recent progress, including new processes and procedures that have already been implemented.