State Department of Corrections officials say an Alabama correctional officer was stabbed by an inmate yesterday at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore.
The agency says inmate Cleveland Cunningham was detained after the stabbing occurred just after noon yesterday in the facility's dining hall. The officer was airlifted to an off-site hospital and is currently in critical condition.
Prison officials say Cunningham assaulted the officer in retaliation for being denied extra food. The prison was placed on lockdown after the incident.
No other inmates were involved in the stabbing.
Cunningham is serving a 20-year sentence on a first-degree conviction in 2013 in Baldwin County.
The Alabama Department of Corrections has reported several incidents at Holman Correctional Facility this year, including riots in March in which the warden and another correctional officer were stabbed.