The convicted rapist accused of critically injuring two California correctional officers on Saturday morning during a jailhouse shooting was booked on charges of attempted murder as his alleged victims clung to life Sunday. He also has been placed on a parole hold. When correctional officers Juanita Davila and Toamalama Scanlan told him to sit down, a “struggle ensued”, according to the same report.
Advertisement
Two sheriff’s office employees are hospitalized after being shot in the lobby of a central California county jail Saturday.
About 15 people, including small children, who were in the lobby ran to safety when the shots rang out around 8:30 a.m.
Vang exchanged gunfire with other correctional officers at the jail, but neither party was hit.
Vang was released from prison in 2014 after serving 16 years for raping three girls aged 14 and under, said Sheriff Margaret Mims.
The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office says their condition is unknown.
Scanlan and Davila reportedly told Vang to take a seat – but instead he pulled a gun out of his clothing and shot the veteran officers, authorities said.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Vang had an attorney who could comment on his behalf. Vang was reportedly visiting the jail Saturday when he became disgruntled because he couldn’t cut the line. “He has not had any criminal violations until today”, the Sheriff’s Office said. He 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. Tulare Avenue to M Street is closed and the Fresno County Jail remains on lockdown.
Officers tried to subdue Vang with a stun gun, but he would not give up and ran to the hallway of the jail records area, authorities said. She saw both of the injured officers in the lobby and can’t get the scene out of her mind. “When he was confronted by sheriff’s deputies, he showed his weapon, dropped it outside of the door, and said that he wanted to be arrested”, Mims explained.
“This is insane. This isn’t supposed to happen”, Rodriguez said.
Botti says the Sherriff’s Office received a report of an active shooter inside the jail located in the city of Fresno on Saturday morning and that the investigation is ongoing.
The lobby of a central California jail has reopened a day after an ex-convict shot and critically wounded two unarmed officers.
Advertisement
Mims says two officers were shot in the head or neck area. Davila, who has 18 years of experience, was listed in critical but stable condition, Botti said.
