BRIDGEWATER, MASS. (WHDH) - An inmate at the Massachusetts Department of Correction died Sunday after being injured at the Massachusetts Treatment Center in Bridgewater, officials said.
State Executive Office of Public Safety and Security Communications Manager Scott Croteau in a statement said staff at the treatment center first responded near 9 a.m. after they received a report of a fight between two incarcerated people.
Staff soon found a 34-year-old inmate unresponsive and “suffering from wounds caused by a possible assault,” according to Croteau. Staff gave medical aid and emergency crews brought the inmate to an area hospital where he later died.
Croteau did not identify the inmate who died but said a preliminary investigation indicated the man was beaten by another inmate with a closed fist.
The incident remained under investigation by the Massachusetts Department of Correction, the Massachusetts State Police, and the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office as of Monday afternoon.
The Massachusetts Treatment Center is a medium security facility housing male inmates identified as sex offenders. The treatment center also houses people who have been civilly committed as sexually dangerous persons, according to the Department of Corrections.
The treatment center is part of a larger complex that includes the Old Colony Correctional Center, the soon-to-be-closed Old Colony Minimum facility, and Bridgewater State Hospital.
Violence at the treatment center comes after other recent incidents in Massachusetts prisons, including a deadly assault at Old Colony Correctional Center on Sept. 15.
Just days after the incident at Old Colony, officials said two inmates assaulted guards at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center on Sept. 18, sending five prison officers to area hospitals. Two officers were stabbed. One officer’s stab wounds were considered serious.
The Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union released video of the attack and condemned the incident.
“We have been warning the [state Department of Correction] of something like this,” Correction Officers Federated Union leaders said in a statement. “Our Officers are continuing to get hurt.”
The Executive Office of Public Safety and Security said it launched investigations into both the inmate death on Sept. 15 and the Souza-Baranowski attack on Sept. 18.
“Our correction officers perform an essential and difficult job,” said Interim Department of Correction Commissioner Shawn Jenkins in one statement after officers were hurt at Souza-Baranowski. “Their safety is our top priority.”
As of Monday, the Department of Correction on its website said regular visits at Souza-Baranowski were still temporarily suspended “due to safety and security reasons.”
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