A female corrections officer at Kent Institution in Agassiz had her face slashed in an attack by an inmate wielding a homemade knife.
The woman, whose name isn’t being released, was taken to Royal Columbian Hospital after the attack Saturday afternoon.
Gord Robertson, president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, Pacific region, said the guard will be badly disfigured and will require further facial surgery.
“An inmate slashed her on her face quite severely,” he said. “It was basically down the whole side of her face. It was a severe cut and very deep.”
Robertson said it was unclear why the inmate attacked the officer.
Kent, a maximum security federal prison, has been in lockdown since the incident. The attack follows the slashing of another correctional officer on Thurs-day, said Robertson.
In that slashing, a guard was cut in the arm by a homemade weapon.
He believes the knife in the latest attack was made from a razor blade.
“We have no idea why,” he said. “It was completely random. We have heard it was a planned attack on any correction-
al officer.”
