A correction officer at Northern Correctional Institution -- the state's "supermax" prison -- suffered facial injuries after an inmate punched him without provocation this morning.
"The inmate was being escorted to recreation at 8:14 am when he turned and without warning punched the correction officer," said Brian Garnett, director of external affairs for the Department of Correction. He would not reveal the officer's name.
Another correction officer who witnessed the assault told NBC Connecticut he'd never seen so much blood.
Larry Dorman, public affairs coordinator for AFSCME, the correction officers' union, said the officer required emergency surgery.
"Safety and health conditions are increasingly volatile at the prisons and the members we represent want to have the safest facilities possible," said Dorman.
State Police are investigating the assault but until they arrest the inmate authorities are keeping his name a secret, too.
