By C1 Staff
GOLDEN VALLEY — The correctional officer whose encounter with an inmate escalated into a riot at the Kingman Arizona State Prison has taken his own life.
The Review Journal reports that John Kemp, 30, killed himself inside his apartment early Wednesday.
Kemp was involved in a verbal altercation with an inmate that erupted into a riot inside the Hualapai Unit of the prison on July 2.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our colleague and friend John Kemp,” Management and Training Corp., the company that operates the prison, said in a public statement.
“It is not appropriate for us to speculate regarding the motive behind his death. We are fully cooperating with police in their investigation into this tragic situation. Mr. Kemp was hired on Dec. 17, 2012.”
The Arizona Department of Corrections would not comment on Kemp’s death.