A California inmate serving time for murder attempted to stab a sheriff’s deputy and a fellow inmate with a makeshift knife, prompting a chaotic brawl in the prison that was caught on video.
The violence unfolded at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamango around 2:45 p.m., the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department (SBSD) said in a news release.
Christopher Lommie Jackson, 25, who’s been in custody since 2019, armed himself with a jail-made metal knife and attempted to stab another inmate, sheriff’s deputies said.
When deputies arrived to break up the altercation, Jackson attempted to stab a deputy and knock him to the ground, prompting more deputies to intervene to stop the assault. The violence spilled out into the corridor as deputies pinned Jackson down to stop him.
The deputy who was attacked sustained “moderate injuries to his face and was treated and released from a local hospital,” SBSD said.
“Such violent behavior poses a serious threat to the safety and security of our staff and inmate populations,” Sheriff Shannon Dicus said in a statement. “Our deputies work tirelessly to maintain order and provide a secure environment within our correctional facilities. We will pursue the maximum legal consequences for those who carry out attacks in our correctional facilities.”
SBSD said Jackson has had multiple prior arrests for violent offenses in San Bernardino County.
Early on Thursday, a South Carolina corrections officer was hospitalized after being stabbed in the head by an inmate at the Broad River Correctional Institute in Columbia.
