By Andy Porter
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, Wash.
WALLA WALLA, Wash. — A fight Tuesday night between three inmates at the Washington State Penitentiary resulted in one prisoner being shot.
The man suffered an injury that was not life threatening, said Allison Window, prison public information officer. After being treated at a hospital, he was returned to the prison and is in stable condition today in the facility’s Health Services Building, she said.
Window said in an email this morning that no information about the inmates involved was being released at this time.
The fight, which involved two prisoners assaulting a third inmate, occurred at about 7:48 p.m. in a recreation yard at the prison’s West Complex, Window said. A tower officer ordered the inmates to stop, but they continued fighting even after a warning shot was fired into an unoccupied area, she said.
The officer then fired a shot at and struck one of the two prisoners who were assaulting the third man.
The inmate who was the target of the assault was also admitted to the Health Services Building for treatment of his injuries, Window said. He was still there today.
The shooting is under investigation, she said, and the officer involved has been placed on administrative leave.
The last shooting of a prisoner in Washington state was in June 2012 at Clallam Bay Corrections Center, after an inmate took a staff member hostage. The inmate in that shooting died, according to Window.
©2019 Walla Walla Union-Bulletin (Walla Walla, Wash.)