By David Travis Bland
The State
COLUMBIA, S.C. — After detainees attacked two correctional officers in a riot at Richland County’s jail on Sept. 3, Sheriff Leon Lott took a moment to praise corrections officers for doing what he described as a thankless, dangerous job.
“Correctional officers don’t get a lot of credit,” Lott said, adding he “applauds” the officers who work at Richland County’s Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.
Lott began a Wednesday news conference by talking about one of those officers — Alvin Sherman Glenn.
Twenty-one years ago this month, Glenn, who was 59 years old, was killed by inmates during an escape attempt.
Glenn was “someone who cared about Richland County,” Lott said. “I want people to remember him.”
Glenn first came to Richland County as an Army recruit, The State reported in 2000. He trained at Fort Jackson and came to love the area, his family said.
He was part of a “big, close family” and was a “great father,” his family said.
He had a 30-year Army career and retired as a sergeant major. He came back to Columbia after the retiring from the Army.
Glenn went to work at the jail in 1995 to give him “something to do,” a family member said in 2000.
He never mentioned any problems with inmates or complained about his guard job, family said.
On Sept. 17, 2000, three inmates attempted to escape the jail.
A murder suspect and two men awaiting trial on armed robbery charges overpowered Glenn as he performed the nightly 11 p.m. head count, The State reported, quoting Ronaldo Myers, then assistant director of the jail and now its director.
The detainees locked Glenn’s hands together behind his back with his own handcuffs and bound his feet before beating and strangling him. Investigators suspect a half-dozen other detainees knew about the plot and helped them plan the attack.
The three detainees made it to a fence outside the jail where they were captured.
As they tried to escape, other inmates tried to save Glenn by performing CPR, Lott said at the time.
“He was the best I ever worked with,” a fellow guard said after Glenn’s death. “He always had a kind word and always wore a smile.”
Glenn’s daughter, Necole Snowden, said her father “was nice to everybody. He loved everybody.”
Next: Sheriff: 12 inmates now charged in South Carolina jail riot
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