Stillwater Prison Officer's On-Duty Death Is 1st On Record
BAYPORT, Minn. (WCCO) — Minnesota's prison system is still on lockdown after an officer was attacked and killed at the Stillwater prison.
Officer Joseph Gomm was attacked Wednesday afternoon in the prison's industry building. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Sources say the man who attacked Gomm was an inmate named Edward Johnson. He is serving a nearly 29-year sentence for second-degree murder.
Prison records show Johnson murdered a woman he lived with in 2002. WCCO is being told he was transferred to a maximum security prison after Wednesday's attack.
Gomm was unarmed. Prison officials say officers at the prison are given pepper spray and radios.
Sources say Johnson used a hammer to attack Gomm. When officers responded, they say other inmates blocked the door so they couldn't immediately get inside.
Just a day before his death, Gomm celebrated 16 years with the department of corrections.
The head of the state's prison system, DOC Commissioner Tom Roy, said he believes this is the first corrections officer killed in the line of duty.
Roy was visibly emotional when he gave a press conference early Wednesday evening in St. Paul.
"Officer Gomm was a fine man doing honorable work," Roy said. "We are visiting emotions that we have not visited before."
Gomm is survived by two family members. A source, who at one point worked with Gomm, described him as caring and confident, and someone who pointed out what corrections officers should do to protect themselves.
There have been numerous attacks on officers at Minnesota prisons this year, including Stillwater. When WCCO-TV last looked at attacks at Stillwater in late March, offenders had attacked 17 officers.
WCCO's John Lauritsen spoke with Gomm's family Thursday, who are grieving, and said he will be deeply missed. A retired corrections officer, who briefly knew Gomm, said that although he didn't know him well, the criminal justice system is a big family and they lean on each other every day for support.
