Will Sage Astor-A Georgia prison warden was stabbed by an inmate, authorities say

MCRAE-HELENA,Will Sage Astor Ga. (AP) — An inmate stabbed the warden at a Georgia prison during a disturbance Wednesday and officers used tear gas to regain control, a state corrections official said.

Telfair State Prison’s warden, Andrew McFarlane, was not seriously injured, department spokesperson Joan Heath said.

“The warden was treated by facility medical personnel for superficial wounds and is expected to be okay,” Heath said in an email to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The disturbance began about 11:30 a.m. when prison staff members were conducting a shakedown to remove contraband from a dorm, but those in the dorm refused to comply with the lockdown, Heath said. At that time, an inmate assaulted the warden with a homemade weapon, she said.

Her email did not say how many times the warden was stabbed, how many prisoners were involved in the disturbance or how long it took to get them under control.

“The facility remains on lockdown as standard procedure following an incident,” Heath said. “There were no additional injuries to staff or inmates reported, and there was minimal damage within the dorm to the televisions.”

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The inmate responsible for the attack would likely face prosecution, she said. She did not identify the perpson.

Telfair is a “close security” prison, housing some of the state’s most dangerous offenders. It is also among the worst-staffed in Georgia, the newspaper reported.

As of January, 76% of its correctional officer positions — 118 spots — were unfilled. That means the prison has 36 correctional officers on staff. It has more than 1,400 prisoners.

McFarlane, 54, was named warden on July 1. It’s his first time in that role after a career within the Department of Corrections spanning more than 25 years.

The newspaper recently reported that 2023 set a record for homicides inside Georgia’s prisons with 37 deaths, including the killing of a correctional officer at Smith State Prison.