Multiple staff members seriously injured during disturbance at Nebraska corrections facility in Lincoln

By Jake Anderson and Abbie Petersen

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    LINCOLN, Nebraska (KETV) — Multiple staff members were seriously injured after a disturbance involving three inmates Wednesday at a Nebraska corrections facility in Lincoln.

According to the Nebraska Department of Corrections, five staff members at the Reception and Treatment Center were taken to the hospital for treatment after being stabbed with what appear to be “manufactured weapons” and injuries from being “kicked and punched.”

Two other staff members were injured when responding to the scene, authorities said.

Investigators said the inmates who assaulted the staff members were intoxicated and being directed by staff members.

The inmates then assaulted the staff members, authorities said.

Mike Chipman, the head of the union representing corrections workers, told KETV NewsWatch 7 that an inmate faked an illness, then inmates jumped the worker as he moved into the cell. Other workers then moved in to help.

“The injured team members were primarily concerned with the well-being of their co-workers, which is indicative of the commitment they have to each other,” Warden Taggart Boyd said in a statement. “Staff responded quickly and contained the situation within minutes.”

Authorities said the incident occurred at one of two high security, maximum custody units at the facility.

None of the staff members’ injuries are considered to be life-threatening, according to the Nebraska Department of Corrections.

Investigators said three weapons had been recovered.

KETV NewsWatch 7 asked Chipman how inmates in maximum security could be intoxicated.

“So what they do is they make what they make homemade alcohol. So that looks like they grab bread and they grab fruits. Things of that nature, and then they hide it and they brew it, hook it up to some electrical usually device and then they warm it up over time. They’re very intoxicated, very dangerous,” Chipman said.

Chipman says this attack is why staffers need stab-resistant vests. He says they’ve been asking for them.

“That protects your torso. It also protects a little bit of your neck and you know, we had a guy get stabbed in the lower neck. We had multiple guys stabbed in the lower torso and it’s very difficult for an edged weapon to penetrate a vest,” Chipman said.

Nebraska’s Justice Reform Bill includes funding for those vests and will likely pass the legislature Thursday.

The Inspector General for corrections says his office will review the incident.

He supports the use of stab vests and body cameras throughout the system.

Currently, body cameras are only in use on a limited basis at the state penitentiary and the prison in Tecumseh.

The facility is limiting activities and inmate activity within the facility, until an investigation overseen by the Nebraska State Patrol is completed.

“Violence toward staff members will not be tolerated,” Nebraska Department of Correctional Services Director Rob Jeffreys said in a statement. “Those who choose to perpetrate these acts will be dealt with accordingly, which includes internal discipline, risk mitigation and the judicial system.”

Reception and Treatment Center is a recently remodeled high-security facility that houses inmates transferred from the state prison in Tecumseh and the state penitentiary in Lincoln.

The Department of Corrections declined to do an interview about this.

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