Inmates attack guards at USP McCreary

By Greg Bird

Five staff members were injured in a mass assault at USP McCreary, the federal high security prison located in Pine Knot, on Wednesday officials from the facility report.

According to the brief press release the incident occurred at 12:50 p.m. when a group of inmates became “disruptive” at the facility.

As staff moved to secure the area, apparently several inmates turned on the guards, injuring them in an assault. The prison states the staff members were treated for non-life threatening injuries at a local hospital and several inmates were treated for minor injuries within the facility.

After the incident the inmates were returned to their cells and facility placed on “limited operational status.”

Despite requests to provide additional details of the attack and the updated conditions of the staff members injured, prison officials have not released further information at this time.

The prison reports an internal investigation is under way and the FBI has been notified. They further added that at no time was the public in danger.

This is the second publically reported incident of staff members injured in an assault at the facility. In 2010 two staff members had to be airlifted to the University of Kentucky Medical Center after suffering stab woundsfrom an inmate during a routine search. The staff were reportedly treated and released, but no additional information was released.

Earlier this year an inmate was killed in an accident at the Satellite Prison Camp at USP McCreary, a minimum-security facility located adjacent to the main facility.

Other reported incidents at the prison include three inmates killed in two separate incidents in 2015 and 2014, and two inmates from the camp arrested in a local motel in 2015 after reportedly escaping to obtain drugs to bring back to the prison.