North Carolina prison officials assaulted in 2 attacks

The N.C. Department of Public Safety said a prison officer at Maury Correctional Institution in Greene County received a non-life threatening injury after an inmate attack around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. Spokeswoman Sonja Bennett-Bellamy said the officer and was taken to a local urgent care center and is expected to soon return to work.

Bennett-Bellamy said the inmate is undergoing a mental evaluation.

A second attack occurred about two hours later when an inmate walked up behind a case manager and hit them on the head with his fist. A supervisor trying to break up the scuffle was also hurt. Neither of the injuries was serious, and Bennett-Bellamy said officials don't believe the incidents are related.

The incidents are the latest in a series of violent attacks reported at North Carolina prisons over the last year.

It was later discovered by the National Institute of Corrections that the prison had a staffing vacancy of about 25 percent and was deemed unsafe to fully operate on the day of the attack. The team also found that most officers were minimally trained.

Prosecutors say they want the death penalty for an inmate accused of beating to death an officer at Bertie Correctional Institution last year.

According to officials, 2017 was the deadliest year in the history of the state's prison system.