24-year-old dies after group attack at North Carolina prison, officials say
A 24-year-old was killed and three others were hurt during a group attack at a North Carolina prison, officials said.
Semajs Short was in a housing area when “a number of other offenders” assaulted him on Tuesday, March 29, according to the N.C. Department of Public Safety.
“First responders performed life-saving measures until local paramedics arrived and also worked to resuscitate” Short, who was pronounced dead about 20 minutes after the assault, prison officials said in a news release.
Three other prisoners reportedly were hurt during the attack and taken to a medical center. Their injuries were considered non-life-threatening.
Officials said the incident happened just before 2:15 p.m. at the Bertie Correctional Institution, located in the town of Windsor and roughly 120 miles northeast of Raleigh. The prison can hold about 1,500 people in close and medium custody, the two highest risk levels, according to the state.
Prison officials said the Bertie facility went on a “modified lockdown” as officials tried to find out what happened during the attack, which didn’t injure any workers.
“The Department of Public Safety is fully cooperating in the investigation and will seek criminal prosecution against any offender involved in the altercation,” the agency said in its news release.
The N.C. State Bureau of Investigation and the Windsor Police Department reportedly are investigating the Bertie prison incident.
Short was expected to be released in 2042 after he received a second-degree murder conviction in Halifax County, officials said.
This story was originally published March 30, 2022 at 8:13 AM with the headline "24-year-old dies after group attack at North Carolina prison, officials say."
