A Georgia prison guard shot and killed a prisoner she had helped escort to a hospital for treatment after he snatched another guard’s pepper spray and used it to overpower him, authorities said Wednesday.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said its agents are investigating the late Tuesday shooting at Washington County Regional Hospital in Sandersville, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) east of Macon. The agency typically handles cases involving shootings by Georgia law enforcement officers.
Two corrections officers from Washington State Prison took 31-year-old Jacob Henson to the hospital after he was stabbed by a fellow prisoner during a fight, the GBI said in a news release.
The bureau said its preliminary investigation indicated that Henson began fighting with one of the guards at the hospital, grabbed a canister of pepper spray from the officer and used it to subdue him. The inmate began advancing toward the second guard, still spraying from the canister, when she shot and killed him, according to the GBI.
The GBI didn’t say what sparked the fight between the inmate and guards. Washington County Sheriff Joel Cochran said it “appeared to be an escape attempt.”
