Ohio prison guard killed on Christmas Day, allegedly by inmate

An Ohio prison guard is dead after being assaulted by an inmate on Christmas Day, authorities said.

“It is with great sadness that I confirm the tragic death of Correction Officer Andrew Lansing following an inmate assault that occurred at Ross Correctional Institution this morning,” Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Director Annette Chambers-Smith said in a statement Wednesday.

Lansing was a veteran employee at the institute and was well respected, she said, calling the loss “heartbreaking.”

The facility in Chillicothe, about 43 miles south of Columbus, was placed on lockdown under “restricted movement,” and the Ohio State Highway Patrol was investigating, Chambers-Smith said, adding that the inmate had been transferred to the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility.

The highway patrol identified the inmate as Rashawn Cannon, 27, The Columbus Dispatch reported. Convicted last year of felony assault and illegally possessing a firearm, he would have been eligible for parole in August 2030.

It was not clear where Lansing’s assault took place at the 1,707-acre prison, which holds 2,000 inmates, or whether a weapon was used, ABC News reported.

Lansing had worked in two separate stints at the Ross Correctional Institution, according to his LinkedIn page accessed by The Columbus Dispatch. In between he had worked with a private military contractor to help the Iraqi government make correctional facilities safer, more secure and more humane. His page also indicates he served in the U.S. Army from Oct. 1981 to April 1992.

“The loss of a staff person is difficult, but to lose a family member on Christmas Day at the hands of someone in our custody is a tragedy beyond comprehension,” Chambers-Smith said. “Instead of going home after his shift to be with his family on this holiday, Officer Lansing made the ultimate sacrifice, and our agency will never be the same.”

The union representing Ohio corrections officers said chronic understaffing combined with holiday-related absences were partly to blame for the attack, noting that the facility was 40 officers short on Wednesday.

“We’re going to insist and demand on accountability,” Chris Mabe, president of the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, told The Columbus Dispatch on Wednesday. “We’re demanding action from the governor’s office.”

With News Wire Services