‘Coordinated’ attacks at B.C. prisons send several inmates to hospital: union

The union that represents correctional officers is providing more information about what sent several B.C. inmates to the hospital Thursday night.

Union of Canadian Correctional Officers Regional President John Randle says there was “a severe security incident that occurred at multiple institutions” in the Lower Mainland involving edged weapons.

“It appears to be a coordinated effort between multiple institutions,” he told CityNews Friday, though he could not provide more information about which prisons were involved.

“We don’t know all the injuries but we do know that there was edged weapons involved, so prison shanks or knives.”

This comes after Abbotsford Regional Hospital was placed on lockdown Thursday. Police confirmed Friday they were called in to assist Correctional Service of Canada staff who had transported prison inmates for treatment just before 5:30 p.m.

BCEHS responds to Kent, Matsqui institutions

In a statement to CityNews, BC Emergency Health Services says it was called to two prisons Thursday afternoon.

The first call came in at 5 p.m. from the Kent Institution in Agassiz, where BCEHS says five ambulances and two advanced care paramedic responder units were dispatched. It says three people were taken to the hospital in critical condition.

Meanwhile, the second call came in just 10 minutes later from the Matsqui Institution in Abbotsford, where two ambulances were sent. BCEHS says two patients from this prison were taken to the hospital.

While Randle says the Thursday incident appears to be the result of a coordinated attack, he could not say whether this was gang related or otherwise.

“It’s really tough to speculate,” he added.

The union has raised concerns about officer safety multiple times, and Randle is commending members’ actions in response to what happened Thursday.

“It was definitely a tough night, a busy night. Our members, they responded amazing because, clearly, no one lost their life. So that was a huge response effort on our part. But it definitely, again, highlights the concerns that we have right now,” he explained.

Randle says drones are dropping cell phones and weapons into the prisons, allowing these kinds of attacks to take place.

He notes the cellphones make it even more difficult for correctional officers to intercept communication to stop such schemes from being planned.

“It definitely concerns our members because of the level of violence. This is violence that we don’t normally see. But with all this stuff that the inmates are now able to get in, it’s creating an atmosphere where that violence is becoming regular,” Randle said.

“Historically, we’ve always had prison shanks, but those have been tough to make and we’ve done a really good job of finding them. But now with the number of weapons and cellphones they’re able to get in with drones, it’s making everything way more dangerous and harder for us to find it all. It’s a needle-in-a-haystack situation at this point right now.”

CityNews has reached out to the Correctional Service of Canada for more information.