COLUMBUS (AP) – The union representing state prison guards says a female corrections officer was taken hostage by a male inmate after being left alone with other inmates in the library at a state prison in Mansfield.
Union leader and prison guard Doug Mosier says the hostage situation at Mansfield Correctional Institution developed Sunday when a second officer was pulled away for duties in the prison chapel.
Mosier said Monday that all activity in the library should have stopped when the second officer was pulled. He says an inmate saw an opportunity and took it.
The situation was resolved around 9 p.m. Sunday. The prison remains on lockdown. Mosier says the female corrections officer was an experienced guard.
A prisons spokeswoman says the agency remains committed to running secure prisons and keeping staff safe.