B.C. inmate remains in hospital days after assault; prison now on lockdown

A correctional officer walks past the main gate to the Mountain Institution in Agassiz, B.C., on Sunday, March 30, 2008. (Jonathan Hayward / The Canadian Press)

A medium security federal prison in B.C.’s Fraser Valley was placed on lockdown Tuesday, four days after a serious assault sent an inmate to an outside hospital.

Marie Messer, Mountain Institution’s assistant warden for management services, told CTV News Wednesday that the assault and the lockdown at the Agassiz facility are “not directly” related.

Asked if the assault contributed to the decision to enter lockdown, Messer said prison staff assess safety concerns regularly, triggering a lockdown whenever there is “an incident or series of incidents” at the facility that warrants it.

The lockdown was put in place to allow staff to conduct an “exceptional search,” and visits have been suspended until the search is completed, according to a statement issued Wednesday by the Correctional Service of Canada.

“Normal operations will resume as soon as it is considered safe to do so,” the statement reads.

The assault occurred on Feb. 13, the CSC said in a separate statement Wednesday.

Messer told CTV News the inmate who was injured in the incident has not yet returned to the institution and remains in hospital. She declined to comment on the victim’s condition, citing privacy concerns.

Asked about its response to the incident, B.C. Emergency Health Services told CTV News it dispatched two ambulances, one with primary care paramedics and one with advanced care paramedics, to the prison around 9:20 p.m. on Feb. 13.

“Paramedics provided emergency medical treatment to one patient who was transported to hospital in serious but stable condition,” said BCEHS paramedic public information officer Brian Twaites, in a statement.

The CSC said Agassiz RCMP were notified of the assault and launched an investigation.

“The assailants have been identified, and the appropriate actions have been taken,” the CSC said.