Holly MatkinOklahoma City, OK – An Oklahoma County Detention Center inmate attacked a correctional officer and took him hostage on Saturday afternoon, leading to a deadly standoff with police inside the facility.
Other inmates used a cell phone to livestream the mayhem to Facebook, according to KWTV.
The attack occurred as the correctional officer was dispensing medication on the 10th floor of the detention center sometime before 4:30 p.m., The Oklahoman reported.
The 10th floor is where the inmates who are the most difficult to manage are held, Oklahoma County Detention Center Administrator Greg Williams later told the paper.
An unidentified inmate stole the correctional officer’s keys and radio and tied him up during the attack, then released nearby inmates from their cells.
One of the inmates started livestreaming the incident with a cell phone, FOX News reported.
The video showed a prisoner in a striped jail jumpsuit as he stood next to the injured correctional officer, who was on his knees.
The attacker and other inmates appeared to be yelling back and forth over the edge of the balcony with detention center employees below.
The area was littered with debris.
“Oklahoma Count jail, y’all,” the prisoner behind the camera proclaimed. “This s—t real. It ain’t nothing against the CO, man…It ain’t got nothin’ to do with this CO, he just so happened to be a part of the situation, man.”
He went on to complain about the lack of mirrors in the jail before aiming the camera at a toilet filled with toilet paper.
“The water don’t work, toilet backed up,” he said. “This is what we’re dealing with. N—as ain’t been out their cell three, four days…We ain’t got rec – nothing! We ain’t got no showers in two weeks. Our power was just out two days.”
Saturday evening at the #OklahomaCountyJail ended in police officers shot and killed an inmate who took a correctional officer hostage. pic.twitter.com/0bbiyfcYTl
— MainStream Kulture Official 💯🎥 (@msknewsofficial) March 29, 2021
The Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) did not have enough staff members available to safely enter the facility, so they asked for assistance from the Oklahoma City Police Department (OCPD), according to The Oklahoman.
Another clip shows Misquez lying on the ground. He appears to be okay.
Still waiting on the latest update from authorities. pic.twitter.com/mopCvwDXGV
— Jessica Bruno (@JbrunoKFOR) March 27, 2021
Oklahoma County Sheriff Tommie Johnson said the deputies and officers tried to deescalate the situation, but that the inmate had the correctional officer in a “hostage position” and was holding an object against his neck, The Oklahoman reported.
Investigators said the prisoner was armed with a “shank,” according to KWTV.
Closer look at the hostage. ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/sFCwhyyEld
— Jessica Bruno (@JbrunoKFOR) March 27, 2021
They ultimately shot the inmate, killing him, Sheriff Johnson told The Oklahoman.
The extent of the correctional officer’s injuries was not released on Saturday night, but he was able to walk out of the facility on his own before being transported to a local hospital, Williams told The Oklahoman.
It is unclear how many other inmates were involved in the hostage situation, KWTV reported.
The OCPD is leading the ongoing investigation into the incident, according to Oklahoma City Police Chief Wade Gourley.
“We’re glad that the detention officer wasn’t more seriously hurt and we were able to get him out of there and protect him,” Chief Gourley said, according to CNN.
Protesters flocked to the jail in the wake of the video and the officer-involved shooting to complain about the conditions the inmates said they have been enduring inside the facility, FOX News reported.
Black Lives Matter Oklahoma City leader T. Sheri Dickerson alleged the purported state of the jail conditions are “nothing new,” according to The Oklahoman.
“The inhumane conditions of the Oklahoma County jail are horrendous,” Dickerson declared. “They don’t respect the simple dignity of human beings when they stand up and say, ‘I am a person. I don’t deserve to be treated like this.’”
