Dylann Roof was attacked by another inmate
Video After The Jump
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — Dylann Roof and his appointed attorney have no plans to file charges against the inmate accused of attacking him Thursday morning as the accused church shooter went to the showers.
According to Charleston County Sheriff Al Cannon, the assault happened shortly before 8 a.m. as Roof was being escorted to the showers in Housing Unit 1B. Cannon says the two detention center guards had moved away from Roof, one to take a break and another to hand toilet paper to another inmate.
That's when detention center officials say 25-year-old Dwayne Stafford, a fellow protective custody inmate, ran down a flight of stairs and through a door that should have been locked so he could attack Roof. Jail records show Stafford is being held in the jail on assault, drug, and robbery charges from January 2015.
Dwayne Stafford
The attack was broken up by one of the detention deputies assigned to the housing unit.
Stafford hit Roof in the face and back, leaving him with bruises on his face and back, the report adds. Roof was checked out by jail medical staff and returned to his cell.
Cannon said the incident has led detention center officials to look at policies and processes in place at the jail and make sure that complacency is not becoming an issue.
"The very least, we have complacency -- for police officers and detentions officers it is one of the biggest problems we face," Cannon said.
The sheriff said they are also looking into how Stafford made it through what should have been a locked door, which means looking at the electronic locking mechanism.
"Stafford should not have been able to get through that door," he said.
It's all part of a larger internal investigation stemming from the incident.
Cannon said Roof did not provoke the attack, that it was by surprise. He also could not shed any light on Stafford's motivation.
Dylann Roof
He did say Roof did not fight back.
"I don't think that there was a back and forth fight, so to speak. He was protecting himself from blows," Cannon said.
Roof faces 33 charges in federal court, and nine murder and three attempted murder charges in state court. Prosecutors in both courts are seeking the death penalty.
Dylann Roof is accused of murdering 9 people at a Charleston church on June 17, 2015
The federal trial starts in Novembers. His state trial will start sometime next year. It’s tentatively set for January.
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