Correctional officer, two inmates injured in attack
On Oct. 24 Alaska State Troopers, the Seward Fire Department and Seward Volunteer Ambulance Corps responded to an inmate attack on a correctional officer at Spring Creek Correctional Center. To date the publicly available portion of the continuing investigation of the officer-involved assault has revealed that while a correctional officer was working in an inmate housing area he was attacked by an inmate. During the altercation two other inmates joined in on the assault. Following the assault, two inmates and the corrections officer were transported to Providence Seward Medical & Care Center for treatment of injuries received during the altercation. The instigating inmate was not injured in the incident.
The officer received blows to the body and head that required stitches and was released from Providence that afternoon. The origin and extent of inmate injuries is not available, nor is it known if the officer has since returned to normal duty. Although not officially released, information has become available that indicates that the attack may have been coordinated between the inmates and that the injured officer had previously received threats.
As of yet charges have not been filed while the case remains under investigation by the Crown Point detachment of AST which is the troopers’ base of operations for the Eastern Kenai Peninsula. The Crown Point facility is staffed by three officers and a sergeant, and is augmented by two officers in Cooper Landing and one wildlife enforcement officer based in Seward. Spring Creek Correctional Center, a maximum security facility owned and operated by the State of Alaska, is staffed by over 200 employees and presently incarcerates nearly 500 felons.
According to Ed Athey, Seward Fire Department deputy fire chief, this episode is the most severe he has seen in his seven years in the job. The SFD and SVAC are the designated first responders for incidents of this type and average about one call a month to the prison.