INDIAN SPRINGS (KTNV) — A homicide investigation is underway at High Desert State Prison after an inmate was stabbed to death. The incident is now raising alarming questions about the facility’s readiness to handle the most violent criminals in the state.
“I don't know what the motive was, but they both went to town on each other with what I'm told are 10-inch prison-made shanks,” said Paul Lunkwitz, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Nevada C.O. Lodge 21.
Lunkwitz, the president of Nevada's largest correctional officers' union, spoke out about the fatal incident involving two former cellmates.
Authorities with the Nevada Department of Corrections confirmed with Channel 13 that the inmates were recently transferred to High Desert State Prison from Ely State Prison, Nevada’s long-standing maximum-security facility.
“This is just yet another incident in the cycle that’s going on right now at High Desert,” Lunkwitz said.
Lunkitz said the cycle started this summer after one of Nevada's largest prisoner transfers to date.
In a statement, officials with the NDOC shared that the two men had a history together.
“Yes, we can confirm the incident occurred, leaving one deceased. We cannot provide further details on the crime or victim as it is an active investigation. We can also confirm that the incident was not related to the move to High Desert State Prison. The two were cellmates and had previously been cellmates at Ely State Prison. They had been cellmates for about 258 days and beyond that, they were housed in the same unit with no prior incidents or reported problems.”
Despite this lengthy period without recorded incidents between the two, Lunkwitz believes their transfer to High Desert, under controversial circumstances, may have contributed to what happened.
“It's not an everyday occurrence for the most part, but it’s becoming more frequent at High Desert, that’s for sure. Our guys and gals on the frontlines are being subject to completely dehumanizing treatment and a lot of this is preventable to a large degree,” Lunkwitz said.
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Correctional officers started expressing concerns months ago that HDSP lacked the infrastructure, staffing, and training to handle an influx of inmates with violent histories. Despite their warnings, the NDOC initiated the prisoner swap in July, arguing that it was necessary to ease overcrowding and to redistribute resources.
“It's not rocket science when we were telling them we’re not ready. The officers aren’t ready. The facility is not ready,” Lunkwitz said.
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Lunkwitz is questioning what else could happen with the prison’s limited resources already being stretched dangerously thin and leaving officers unable to monitor volatile inmates adequately.
“We have officers every single day getting propelled on with urine, feces, broken windows, fires being started, the supervisor telling me it’s one incident after another. You’re gonna have bad things that are gonna happen and this is what we’re seeing,” Lunkwitz said.
