By Sarah Roebuck
Corrections1
RICHMOND, Va. — A MS-13 gang member who is an inmate at Greensville Correctional Center is charged with stabbing two corrections officers, the Virginia Department of Corrections said.
Inmate Axel Wilfredo Ortiz Garcia, 26, attacked the two officers on Oct. 1. Both officers were transported to a hospital where they were treated and released, VADOC said.
Ortiz Garcia, a confirmed affiliate of the MS-13 gang, is one of four inmates charged with killing K-9 Rivan and assaulting a corrections officer in April at Sussex I State Prison, VADOC said.
Ortiz Garcia was first arrested in 2018 for aggravated malicious wounding and using a firearm in the commission of a felony, according to VADOC. After he was convicted of those charges, he was sentenced to 40 years with 27 suspended for the first charge and three for the second charge, making his total sentence 16 years.
VADOC said Ortiz Garcia is a Guatemalan national. The agency said it will work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to fulfill a detainer for Garcia’s deportation after he completes his sentence.
“Ortiz Garcia was being temporarily detained at Greensville Correctional Center pursuant to a court order issued by Sussex County Circuit Court related to the prosecution of the violent April attack. Due to his maximum-security status, the VADOC had been seeking a reconsideration of that ruling,” VADOC said.
How can a single corrections officer overcome multiple attackers? The video below discusses 12 recommendations COs can take in the event of an attack.
