Garner Inmate Suicide

Averted By Prison Staff

Quick action by prison staff members averted an inmate suicide from occurring on the afternoon of July 12 at Garner Correctional Institution, the state’s high-security prison at 50 Nunnawauk Road.

State Department of Correction (DOC) spokesman Andrius Banevicius said July 13 that while on a routine tour of inmate cells in a prison cellblock at about 4:05 pm, a correction officer, who was looking through the window in the door of a single-occupancy locked cell, spotted a male inmate involved in a suicide attempt.

The unidentified prisoner had one end of a bed sheet tied around his neck with the other end of the sheet tied to the upper section of a bunk bed in the cell in an apparent attempt to strangulate himself, Mr Banevicius said.

Correction officers and prison medical staffers responded to the cell to provide medical treatment, the spokesman said. The inmate who attempted to commit suicide did not lose consciousness during the incident, Mr Banevicius said.

Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps was dispatched to the prison.

The inmate was transported to Danbury Hospital where he was treated, released, and then transported back to Garner, Mr Banevicius said.

The spokesman declined to provide any details about the inmate other than to say he is serving time at the prison after having been convicted of a crime. Some Garner inmates are awaiting trail on pending charges.

Following suicides or suicide attempts at state prisons, DOC officials review such incidents to learn what steps can be taken to prevent suicides from occurring, Mr Banevicius said.

Garner is a Level 4 prison in a prison system in which the highest security rating is Level 5. Garner specializes in housing and treating prisoners with chronic psychiatric problems. The facility typically holds about 600 male inmates.