03-19-2012, 07:55 AM
RIP Sgt. Ruben Thomas
![[Image: Story.jpg]](http://www.actionnewsjax.com/media/lib/1/c/1/f/c1f006f2-f469-4204-819e-e0fb952978b3/Story.jpg)
age only 24, had 6 years in corrections. :(
![[Image: Richard-Franklin-and-Reuben-Thomas.jpg]](http://www.news4jax.com/image/view/-/9516090/medRes/2/-/maxh/360/maxw/640/-/91hb24/-/Richard-Franklin-and-Reuben-Thomas.jpg)
Inmate Richard Franklin and Sgt. Ruben Thomas
News4Jax
LAKE CITY, Fla. -
A Department of Corrections officer was stabbed to death by an inmate Sunday night at a state prison near Lake City.
Ken Tucker, secretary of the Department of Corrections, told Channel 4 Sgt. Rueben Thomas was attacked by an inmate just before 10 p.m. Sunday at the Columbia Correctional Institute annex.
Tucker said Thomas was in one of the wings of a dorm checking on an inmate when a control room officer saw inmate Richard Franklin chase and then stab Thomas several times in the neck with a handmade weapon.
Thomas was taken to Shands-Lakeshore Hospital in Lake City, where he died.
"There will be lots of support for his family," Tucker said. "Chaplains were brought in to help the staff work through this. They lost more than a co-worker, they lost a friend."
Tucker said that a second officer, William Brewer, was trying to lock down inmates when Franklin swung something heavy in a sock, striking Brewer in the eye. Brewer was also taken to a hospital, where he was treated and released.
Franklin, 37, was serving a life sentence on several charges including murder and battery on a law enforcement officer. Tucker said he will be transferred to a maximum security prison and the incident will be investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
WHY WASN'T HE IN A MAX PRISON ALREADY??
Thomas had a young daughter and was engaged to be married.
"A lot of people don't realize how dangerous their jobs are," Tucker said. "Every day they're running behind fences, dealing with inmates such as inmate Franklin who are in there for murder and robbery."
age only 24, had 6 years in corrections. :(
Inmate Richard Franklin and Sgt. Ruben Thomas
News4Jax
LAKE CITY, Fla. -
A Department of Corrections officer was stabbed to death by an inmate Sunday night at a state prison near Lake City.
Ken Tucker, secretary of the Department of Corrections, told Channel 4 Sgt. Rueben Thomas was attacked by an inmate just before 10 p.m. Sunday at the Columbia Correctional Institute annex.
Tucker said Thomas was in one of the wings of a dorm checking on an inmate when a control room officer saw inmate Richard Franklin chase and then stab Thomas several times in the neck with a handmade weapon.
Thomas was taken to Shands-Lakeshore Hospital in Lake City, where he died.
"There will be lots of support for his family," Tucker said. "Chaplains were brought in to help the staff work through this. They lost more than a co-worker, they lost a friend."
Tucker said that a second officer, William Brewer, was trying to lock down inmates when Franklin swung something heavy in a sock, striking Brewer in the eye. Brewer was also taken to a hospital, where he was treated and released.
Franklin, 37, was serving a life sentence on several charges including murder and battery on a law enforcement officer. Tucker said he will be transferred to a maximum security prison and the incident will be investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
WHY WASN'T HE IN A MAX PRISON ALREADY??
Thomas had a young daughter and was engaged to be married.
"A lot of people don't realize how dangerous their jobs are," Tucker said. "Every day they're running behind fences, dealing with inmates such as inmate Franklin who are in there for murder and robbery."