Herald staff
MONROE — The Washington State Reformatory has been in lockdown since Sunday night after an inmate in an outside exercise yard was stabbed in the neck, prison officials said Wednesday.
The inmate, a 42-year-old Spokane County man, was treated at Providence Everett Medical Center’s Colby Campus and released that night, hospital spokeswoman Cheri Russum said. The man now is in the prison hospital, said Willie Daigle, associate superintendent.
Monroe police are investigating the stabbing, which occurred about 7:45 p.m. Sunday as the man, one of about 200 inmates in the outside recreation yard, was sitting in the grass.
"He got to his feet, walked through an exit gate from the yard and collapsed. He didn’t even see (the attacker). The guy kind of came up from behind him," Daigle said.
Officials brought in several teams of officers to conduct a search of the reformatory, Daigle said. The man was attacked with a "shank," a homemade weapon.
The inmate has been at the reformatory since 1984. He was convicted of first-degree murder and first-degree robbery. His earliest possible release date is in 2012, or he could be held until August 2024.
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