Dylann Roof, charged with killing nine people in a mass shooting at a historic black church in Charleston, was assaulted by another inmate as he was preparing to shower on Tuesday, authorities said.
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Dylann Roof, 22, was targeted by Dwayne Stafford, who is black, after he went into the shower block at about 7.45am on Thursday at Charleston County detention centre.
This was the jail’s first incident with Roof, he said.
Jail officers are supposed to check the doors in that unit to make sure all cells are locked when inmates are let out separately.
Stafford, who was jailed in January on charges of armed robbery and assault and battery, faces third- degree assault and battery for Thursday’s attack, WCBD-TV reports.
Investigators say Roof was apparently struck with a fist.
Authorities stated that the altercation was broken up by a detention officer who was assigned as one of two detention officer to that particular housing unit.
“It seems pretty obvious to me at this point at the very least we have complacency”, he said.
Stafford was able to hit Roof several times in the face and body before jail staffers separated them. “This certainly serves as a wake-up call for all concerned”. “One of the biggest challenges [for police officers and detention officers] is that we do things day in day out and it becomes routine and sometimes because of that it is easy to become complacent”.
He added that no policies or procedures were changed in the aftermath of the attack because the ones already in place are adequate and should have been followed.
“The nature of the alleged crime and the resulting harm compelled this decision”, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in May, regarding prosecutors’ efforts to pursue the death penalty.
Roof is charged with 33 federal offenses, including hate-crime charges for allegedly targeting his victims on the basis of their race and religion.
Roof has been in solitary confinement since his arrival at the detention center since June 2015.
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“This court should declare the FDPA (Federal Death Penalty Act) unconstitutional and order that this case proceed as a non-capital case”, the lawyers said in the motion.
