An inmate at the Elmira Correctional Facility injured two officers and a sergeant while attempting to grab an officer’s handgun during a hospital visit last month, authorities announced. The incident underscores ongoing concerns about rising violence in New York’s prisons.
The confrontation occurred on October 25 at Arnot Ogden Medical Center, where the inmate was receiving treatment. As two officers approached to apply restraints for transport back to the facility, the inmate suddenly reached for an officer’s handgun while shoving another officer away. The officers quickly restrained the inmate and forced him onto the emergency room bed, struggling to handcuff him before he could remove the weapon.
The inmate was later returned to Elmira Correctional Facility, where he continued to resist officers, refusing to exit the transport van. Staff used body holds to remove him and carry him to the infirmary. After arriving, the inmate became compliant.
The officers involved sustained neck, shoulder, and back injuries and were treated at the facility.
The 28-year-old inmate, serving a four-year sentence for second-degree assault, previously served time for disseminating indecent material to a minor.
In a separate incident on November 17, staff at the facility recovered a makeshift weapon during a fight involving four inmates in the recreation fieldhouse. The altercation, which ignored multiple orders to stop, ended only after chemical agents were deployed. One inmate was treated for a laceration consistent with a cutting-style weapon, and staff later recovered a sharpened plastic ice pick from the scene.
Kenny Gold, Western Region Vice President of NYSCOPBA, praised the officers’ swift response to the gun-grab attempt, emphasizing the dangers posed to staff and the public. “This is a prime example of a boldened criminal who could have devastated a community had these officers not been vigilant,” Gold said.
Gold also criticized the lack of legislative action to address rising violence, mandatory overtime, and understaffing in correctional facilities, attributing the increase in assaults to policies like the HALT Act, which limits solitary confinement.
“Members are retiring or resigning in droves,” Gold stated, citing frustration over what he called a lack of appreciation and support for correctional staff.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to [email protected].