ATMORE, Ala. (AP) — An inmate was stabbed to death and another was critically injured in two outbreaks of violence at a south Alabama prison Sunday night.
The Alabama Department of Corrections said the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore remained on lockdown Monday during an investigation.
The prison system says 29-year-old Vaquerro Kinjuan Armstrong was fatally stabbed after an altercation with another inmate.
Alabama Department of Corrections says Armstrong was found in a housing area about 6:15 p.m. with multiple stab wounds. He was taken to the prison infirmary but died from his injuries.
Eight inmates have been fatally stabbed in state prisons since January.
Corrections Department spokesman Bob Horton says another inmate was stabbed multiple times when a second fight broke out three hours later in another housing area. The inmate, who was not named, was airlifted to a hospital and is in critical condition.
Two other inmates were treated at the prison infirmary.
Armstrong was serving a 22-year sentence on a 2009 first-degree robbery conviction in Talladega County.
The prison system says it has identified a suspect in Armstrong’s death but is not releasing the inmate’s name at this time.
The prison system sent investigators and a Correctional Emergency Response Team to assist Holman officials in their response.
The circumstances behind the fatal stabbing and the second fight remain under investigation, Horton said.