Posted on 01/28/2006 3:18:10 PM PST by lightman
HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) - A corrections officer who was shot in the face by a hospitalized inmate has died of his injuries, officials said Saturday, and union leaders are demanding a review of the department's staffing policies.
Jeffery Alan Wroten, 44, was the only officer guarding inmate Brandon Morris at Washington County Hospital early Thursday when he was shot.
Morris somehow grabbed the officer's gun about 5 a.m., and during a struggle for control, fired into Wroten's face, said corrections commissioner Frank C. Sizer Jr.
No one else in the hospital was injured, but the 20-year-old inmate escaped and forced a taxi driver at gunpoint to drive north until the taxi crashed. Morris escaped on foot but was quickly captured.
Gov. Robert Ehrlich praised Wroten on Saturday as "a pillar of strength to others, always willing to lend a helping hand to those in need," and he ordered state flags to be flown at half-staff in the officer's honor.
Wroten, who died on Friday, had been assigned to the medium-security Roxbury Correctional Institution in Hagerstown, where Morris was serving an eight-year sentence for assault, robbery and handgun convictions.
Morris is now in a maximum-security facility. He had not been charged in Wroten's shooting Saturday, but Sizer said he considers it a capital offense.
In Maryland, the death penalty is reserved for cases of first-degree murder, either premeditated or during the commission of a felony.
Morris had been admitted to the hospital for an injury that prison officials have refused to publicly disclose, however The (Baltimore) Sun reported Saturday that Mary Ann Saar, secretary of the state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, told senators that it was a self-inflicted wound - a needle stabbed into his chest.
Sizer and Saar's spokesman Mark Vernarelli said they couldn't verify the report.
The shooting has prompted corrections officers' unions to demand a review of security policies for hospitalized inmates, including a rule that just one officer stand guard instead of two.
"Even though the inmate pulled the trigger, the administration has to fully look at how the short-staffing impacted this situation. I truly believe that had there been two officers, this wouldn't have happened," said Janet Anderson, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Classified Employees Association.
Greg Massoni, an Ehrlich spokesman, said it was the wrong time to discuss policy and politics.
"I would ask the union to respect the families at this time as well, and not throw that kind of stuff into the mix," he said.
In a public statement released by the corrections department, an unidentified sister of Wroten said the officer's organs had been donated.
"Jeffery is my hero, and this is the best way to honor him," she said.
Or is Michigan one of those liberal hellhole states where they give sub-humans like this "therapy" and a few years in prison, since their mommy didn't hug them enough?
Everybody knows you really just hate the guy because he's African American...
/sarc
None.
No more "Mister Nice Guy", stuff! It obviously doesn't work.
Maryland, not Michigan.
It sounds like Morris wasn't physically restrained to his hospital bed. How else could he possibly have gotten to the officer's gun? A damn shame.
A very sad story. Only a couple days old and some people are trying to assign blame to someone other than the scumbag that pulled the trigger. Try him, convict him and execute him. He'll never be able to do it again.
God bless the deputy and his family.
Michigan hasn't have the death penalty since the 19th century, but what does that have to do with this case? This happened in Maryland.
Isn't attempting to escape from custody a felony?
You mean, male COs can be overpowered by inmates, too? That's incredible! May Officer Wroten rest in peace.
How did this happen? I've never known COs to have a gun.
Some hospitals insist on removal of restraints for some "protecting the patient's privacy" reason. If the patient is a combative substance abuser or psych case it can get very ugly very quickly.
One should be able to do it. There was a mistake by this officer or in procedure somewhere.
I don't know what police officers make, perhaps $25-40 an hour, but you double that to add two officers and it gets pretty expensive to guard a single hospital patient around the clock.
Tookie-ize him
Me bad. Is terrible dyslexia be having.
Dude... these aren't PO they are CO and AZ they make crap pay... although they can't carry guns.
Time to start work on that Children's Book...
If it takes as long as it did to put Tookie down the perp will have outlived the hero he killed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.