Two Fresno County correctional officers remain in critical condition Sunday, a day after being shot by an ex-convict inside the downtown Fresno jail lobby.
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Thong Vang, 37, also was booked on suspicion of bringing drugs into a jail and placed on a parole hold, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said.
During the confrontation that ensued, Vang pulled out a gun and shot correctional officers Juanita Davila and Toamalama Scanlan, neither of whom were armed, Mims said.
Correctional Officer Toamalama Scanlan is hospitalized in critical condition while Officer Juanita Davila is listed in critical but stable condition.
Thong Vang, 37, said he was visiting somebody and tried to cut to the front of the visitation line, but when he was told to wait, he “began to show signs of freaky behavior by pacing back and forth”, authorities said.
Vang exchanged gunfire with other correctional officers at the jail, but neither party was hit. Both had at least 10 years of experience in the county.
The officers were trying to get him to sit down when shots rang out. The alleged shooter eventually gave up and said he wanted to be arrested, Mims said.
Authorities say the pair approached Vang after he tried to cut in the jail visitors line and began pacing near a secure area Saturday.
Botti said Vang is a convicted rapist who was released from prison in 2014 after serving 16 years for raping minors aged 14 and under. “He has not had any criminal violations until today”, the Sheriff’s Office said.
The suspect, Thong Vang, 37, was visiting the jail Saturday morning about 8:30 when the shootings occurred, NBC News reported.
In reaction to questions about security, Mims said there are two metal detectors that visitors must pass through before entering secure areas of the jail, but the lobby itself is a public area. She was one of two unarmed officers critically injured after a man opened fire in the main lobby of the Fresno County Jail in downtown Fresno, Calif., Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016.
He was reportedly at the jail to visit someone Saturday morning and became disgruntled when he was told he could not cut the line.
The department said Vang was surrounded and ordered to surrender, at which point he dropped the gun.
A jail will not change its security protocol, despite a shooting that left two officers wounded Saturday.
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The shooting happened Saturday inside the Fresno County Jail. The suspect, identified as Thong Vang, was arrested. Authorities say two unarmed officers were critically injured after being shot by a visitor.
