Officer Held Hostage, 3 Injured In Tennessee Prison 'Disturbance'

ONLY, TN — Three correctional officers were airlifted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center Sunday after 16 inmates led what the Tennessee Department of Correction called a "disturbance" at the Turney Center Industrial Complex, a medium-security prison in Only, about 60 miles southwest of Nashville in Hickman County.

According to TDOC, the inmates attacked three guards around 4 p.m. Sunday. Two of the officers were immediately released, while the third was held hostage for about three hours before the Special Operations Unit was able to "re-gain control of the situation."

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Officer Lester Ball was treated and released overnight. Officers Paul Neilsen and Jesse Shockley remain hospitalized and in stable condition, according to TDOC.

TDOC says the three were all stabbed "several times," with Ball and Nielsen removed immediately after the attack and Shockley held until 7 p.m. No one else was injured.

"The entire facility is on lockdown and the housing unit the disturbance occurred in is under control. TDOC leadership is onsite and the investigation is ongoing. All inmates involved will be charged appropriately upon the conclusion of the investigation," TDOC posted to Facebook Sunday night.

The department said the attack was "unprovoked" and that the inmates may have ties to gangs, which the TDOC euphemizes as "security-threat groups."

One of the inmates, a convicted murderer, called WKRN during the incident.

“We let the other officer go so he can get medical attention. We’re trying to do the same thing with this officer now, but we’re just trying to make sure…They don’t want to give the officer up right now without the vans, the buses coming in so they can be transported," he told the station. “Everybody’s on edge in here, everybody’s on edge, and they know if they give the officer up, more than likely people are going to die. There’s already been some officers in here, they are ready to kill. These officers are ready to kill.”

He said the inmates involved wanted to be transferred to Nashville's Riverbend Maximum Security Prison. It is TDOC policy to place inmates involved in disturbance to be re-assigned to maximum security facilities and the inmates were transferred to Morgan County Correctional Complex.

The prison will remain on lockdown until the Office of Investigation and Compliance and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation complete their investigation.

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