Stabbing incident at North Branch Prison injured two police officers

An inmate at North Branch Correctional Institution in Cumberland stabbed and seriously injured two corrections officers Friday morning, according to the state Department of Corrections.

The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services has released only basic details about the stabbing, which it is still investigating. The department said the incident occurred around 11:18 a.m. and the two officers “suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries and were transported to a nearby hospital for treatment.”

“Additional response personnel were also evaluated for minor injuries,” Department of Corrections spokesman Lowell Melser said. “The suspect did not sustain any serious injuries and is being questioned by investigators.”

The stabbing occurred as the corrections officers’ union, AFSCME Council 3, was continuing a statewide tour drawing attention. staffing shortages and other security concerns in state prisons. Stuart Katzenberg, the union’s director of collective bargaining and growth, said one of the officers was so seriously injured that he had to be flown to Morgantown, West Virginia, for treatment.

Katzenberg said the union was aware of other staff assaults at the facility, but the state corrections department had not confirmed any details as of Friday evening.

“This is completely unacceptable and at crisis level,” Katzenberg said. “They are left understaffed and undersupported. “How much more blood must be shed for more extreme actions to protect our members and other wards of the state?”