Inmate stabbing results in lockdown of prison

Cathy Scott

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 1997 | 10:47 a.m.

An inmate at the Southern Desert Correctional Center was stabbed several times with a screwdriver, forcing prison officials to lock down the prison 30 miles north of Las Vegas, officials said.

The sharpened screwdriver was allegedly used about 8:15 p.m. Monday to stab inmate LeRoy Mack several times in the chest, said prison spokesman Howard Skolnik.

The inmates got into an argument while outside their cells in a common area of a housing unit, a prison officer said. Prison officers had to pull the pair apart. The weapon was recovered, but no one was caught using it, Skolnik said.

However, after an investigation, an inmate suspected in the stabbing was segregated from the rest of the inmate population. The case against the suspect was being forwarded to the attorney general's office for possible prosecution on an assault charge, Skolnik said.

The suspect is serving a 37-month sentence on an armed robbery conviction.

Mack was taken to University Medical Center by ambulance where he was in stable condition today, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The inmate allegedly using the screwdriver as a weapon was also injured, Skolnik said. He was treated at the prison infirmary, he said.

Skolnik said he didn't know how the inmate got the screwdriver.

The pair were among 200 inmates who were bused to Ohio three months ago because of a bed shortage at the prison, Skolnik said. They had just returned, one the night before and the other last week, he said.

The prison lockdown was being lifted today, Skolnik said.