3 shot during arrest at local prison (merged)

[Headless]

I happen to pass a prison daily OMW to work...this morning there were about 100 police cars at the prison blocking off all entrances/exits. I saw k9 units and a lot of unmarked police cars...the rest were mainly highway patrol units. Got to work and looked at the local newspaper to read:

John Newland said the FBI is working the case and they plan to make a statement this afternoon. He said that the three were shot around 7:45 a.m. during an arrest that was happening at the prison. The three victims were taken to the hospital but their condition is unknown.

All entrances to the facility are blocked by police cruisers.

8:35 a.m.
According to John Newland with the Tallahassee Police Department, three staff members of the Federal Correctional Institution were shot and all staff have been accounted for.

8:28 a.m.

According to reports on the police scanner, five people have been taken into custody by the FBI and are being transported to the Federal Marshals office.

8:15 a.m.
According to reports at the scene, FBI, Federal Marshals, Florida Highway Patrol and several ambulances are on the scene of a shooting at the facility. Traffic on Capital Circle between Park Avenue and Mahan is moving slowly.

Interesting. The prison is a low security prison; not sure if it's still (it used to be) women only or if they currently have male inmates. The wording 'during an arrest' makes me think they were there to arrest staffmembers and things went sour. blue on blue fire in a prison;who'dathunkit. Wonder what those staffmembers were doing that was worth being shot over..

 

[MudPuppy]

Radio said FBI was there to make arrests on corruption charges. I think an FBI agent is KIA and the guard shooter is wounded. Other shot as well.

 

[Headless]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/06/21/prison.shooting.ap/index.html

CNN breaking news now...they don't mention an FBI agent KIA? Damn.

 

[Daniel T]

The Fox News story: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200398,00.html

 

[Headless]

Also a more detailed CNN story:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/06/21/fla.shooting/index.html

Prison guards accused of trading sex with female inmates for drugs. A prison guard dead, and a federal agent also dead. Another individual in critical condition. Looks like the guard who was killed was indicted yesterday and they came for him and others this morning; he actually opened fire outside of the prison.

 

[Seminole]

Headless,

When I was in grad school I used to live on Apalachee Parkway right at Capital Circle, probably not two miles from FCI. What a surprise to see it on the TV screen this morning.

 

[cavman]

I know this sounds naive, but why didn't they get the guard suspected of these things, when the guard was shopping at Sears buying a new pair of pants, or in the parking lot of his local Dairy queen?

The prison is a fortress. Not the best place to make your charge, I would think.

have a great day
cavman

 

[WT]

Feds in shootout with Prison guards - 2 dead

Two Killed in Florida Detention Center Shooting

CHRISTINE JORDAN SEXTON and MARIA NEWMAN
The New York Times
June 21, 2006

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. June 21 — A gunfight broke out this morning in a federal prison here between federal agents and prison guards, as the agents tried to arrest six guards on charges that they traded alcohol and drugs for sex with female prisoners.

When the shooting ended, two people were left dead. One was a federal law enforcement agent, and the other was one of the six men being arrested. Another person was wounded, and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

 

[K-Romulus]

one possibility

cavman: I know this sounds naive, but why didn't they get the guard suspected of these things, when the guard was shopping at Sears buying a new pair of pants, or in the parking lot of his local Dairy queen?

Way back in the day, I used to have a college intern-type job with the DOJ IG's HQ office in DC (mainly answering the phone, filing papers, and making copies).

The IG's office often visits prisons during their investigations and may have felt that the suspects were "just where they wanted them" during the arrest. From the IG's perspective, you've got loads of backup and you are in a Fed jail where there aren't supposed to be any guns.

However, you might think the IG/FBI people would be worried about the suspects' own "backup" being at the jail where they were doing their thing, and the FBI/IG people would therefore do like you suggest and arrest them somewhere where the suspects would be off-guard. I don't know what the answer is.

 

[SSN Vet]

Male Guards : Female Prisoners

I suppose the same could happen with female guards and female prisoners, but this seems to be a recipe for problems to me.

Being a corrections officer is one heck of a hard job. The only three I ever knew had a pretty darn cinical outlook on life.

Not a job people are rushing to apply for, I suspect. I think the pay is pretty miserable to boot.

 

[STW]

Lastest is that the guards were not expected to be armed and the, now dead, shooter used a personal weapon. He likely would have been carrying this no matter where it went down. If he wasn't supposed to be carrying there - Hey, he's a crook. By definition bad guys don't play by the rules.:banghead:

I would think arresting them one by one and treating it like any other felony arrest might have stopped things before they got rolling. Glad I'm not one of those seconded guessing their own actions. Being right doesn't make one of your buddies less dead; being wrong just makes it (and the 20-30 years of reliving it) that much worse.

(I served on a jury where the defendant was a federal guard accused of playing house with an inmate. No winners. Just losers.)

 

[Optical Serenity]

Guess what guys, you know those darn no-knock warrants that everyone loves to hate on? Things would have probably been very different if they had picked up the scumbags at 0430 instead of in broad daylight in their own backyard.

Either way, the bottom line is we've lost a hero in blue.

 

[Preacherman]

STW is correct. I worked for some years at a Federal penitentiary. Weapons are forbidden anywhere on the grounds, even in the parking lot or on the approach road - anywhere that is Federal property. I suspect the arresting officers expected the suspects to be unarmed, and chose to make the arrests at the facility for this reason. Unfortunately, one of the bad guys chose to be illegally armed . . . who'd of thunk it?

 

[TallPine]

Weapons are forbidden anywhere on the grounds, even in the parking lot or on the approach road [...] Unfortunately, one of the bad guys chose to be illegally armed . . . who'd of thunk it?

Perhaps a more strongly worded sign at the gate is in order

"Cops" shooting cops - how often does that happen (deliberately)

 

[Dusty Rusty]

I work in a prison and no firearms are allowed on State property but...things happen all the time. Visiting officers have to leave all weapons at the front entry. We would be fired on the spot if a weapon was discovered in our car or on our person. I know the arresting officers were not expecting anyone to be armed but that's prison---ALWAYS expect the unexpected. My motto--trust no one---sad but true.
My condolences to those whose lives were so wrongfully affected. No one knows what it's like until you are actually there. Do I feel naked without my gun? Hell yes but....rules are for a purpose and the consequences of breaking them can be deadly.