Inmate assaults Jefferson City corrections officer

An officer at Jefferson City Correctional Center returned to work Monday after he was slashed in the face earlier in the day by an inmate with a homemade weapon, Department of Corrections officials said.

The officer was escorting the inmate to a cell in a segregated housing unit when the inmate freed his hands and pulled the weapon out of his clothing, the department said in a news release. About six other prison staff members restrained the inmate.

The officer suffered cuts to his face and was treated in the prison’s medical unit before being sent to an outside facility to have his wound cleaned and stitched, the department said. The officer chose to return to work that same day, according to the department.

State officials said Missouri’s rate of prison staff assaults is below average for states in the Southern Legislative Conference, an organization that fosters cooperation among state governments. The number of assaults dropped between 2016 and 2017 and 2018 is on pace to comparable to 2017, the department said in a news release.

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