Union: Massachusetts correctional officer stabbed 12 times in prison attack

According to the Massachusetts Corrections Officers Union, a correctional officer suffered a punctured lung and numerous stab wounds in an attack at the Souza-Baranowski Corrections Center on Wednesday evening.

The officer, whose name the union did not disclose, was stabbed 12 times in the back by a group of inmates as he made his hourly rounds at the maximum security prison, said Dennis Martin, president of the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union.

“He was lucky,” said Martin, who described the attack as attempted murder. “He was lucky to survive that attack.”

That officer remains hospitalized in serious condition, he said. The injuries are not life-threatening, the Department of Corrections said. Another officer who was stabbed during the attack was treated and released to a hospital. Three officers who responded to the attack, which was reported around 6:20 p.m., were also injured, according to the department.

Martin sharply accused the department management of failing to ensure the safety of officers in the prison.

“It was very disheartening how they responded to this situation,” he said. “It's definitely a dangerous place.”