CHINO, Calif. A 43-year-old guard at the California Institution for Men in Chino was stabbed to death by inmates today. Officials say it's the first fatal attack on a state corrections officer since 1976.

Three inmates, who are associates of the East Coast Crips street gang, fatally stabbed Manuel Gonzales at the facility housing minimum- and medium-security inmates. Gonzales had been working at the prison since February 1996.



The three inmates, identified as Jon Blaylock, Keith White and Henry Riley, are being moved to another facility.

OMG

That is horrible, I visit up there every week and so many of the gaurds are so nice and helpful, even my man reports that the gaurds there are cool to him. My prayers go out to his family and his fellow gaurds. God Bless

RPinSD

This is terrible. My prayers go out to his family and co~workers.

Ahh man....

:angry: :cry: :angry: :cry:

16-Year Veteran CDC Correctional Officer Dies From Inmate Stabbing Attack
Monday January 10, 8:26 pm ET

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Jan. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Correctional Officer Manuel A. Gonzalez, Jr., 43, a 16-year employee of the California Department of Corrections, died today following a stabbing incident involving an inmate at California Institution for Men (CIM). Today's tragic murder of a California correctional peace officer is the first in nearly 20 years.

ADVERTISEMENT
http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/N2992.Yahoo__/B1467187.32;sz=300x250;abr=!ie4;abr=!ie5;ord=11054 09236512379? ("")At approximately 10:50 a.m. today, Officer Gonzalez was stabbed while performing his duties at CIM. The officer was transported to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment where he subsequently died. His next of kin was notified. The CDC Law Enforcement and Investigations Unit and the Chino Police Department are conducting the investigation at this time.

Three inmates are being questioned about today's incident. One inmate is believed to have been responsible for the murder; however, investigators are questioning two other inmates.

The primary inmate suspect in the murder is Jon Christopher Blaylock, 35, who was committed from Los Angeles County in June 2004 after being convicted of attempted murder of a peace officer. He was given a sentence of 75 years and had served time at CDC twice before, for attempted burglary in 1990 and in 1993. He was last released from prison in April 2002.

Roderick Q. Hickman, Secretary of the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency, issued a statement:

"My thoughts and prayers go out to Officer Gonzalez' family at this tragic time. When something like this happens, all of us in the Corrections family are deeply impacted and pained. There is no greater loss than to lose a brother officer killed in the line of duty. I know as professionals we will pull together to help Officer Gonzalez' children and parents deal with this loss and all of us throughout this state will pull together to help heal the wound that has been inflicted on our agency and state.

I also want to assure the family and the officers who served with Manuel Gonzalez that we will do everything in our power to ensure that the ones responsible for this crime are held accountable to the highest degree of the law."

CDC Director Jeanne S. Woodford issued a statement:

"My condolences go out to the family of Correctional Officer Manuel A. Gonzalez, Jr. I do not have the words to express my grief and sadness. It has been nearly 20 years since a CDC employee died in the line of duty. Prison design, the classification system, and CDC policies and procedures all contribute to staff safety, but the risk is always there that we could be subjected to severe injury, or as in this case, give our lives for public safety.

"Correctional Officer Gonzalez was a consummate professional who was well respected by his co-workers. He was reliable and approached his responsibilities with a spirit of teamwork. He was friendly, went beyond his duties to assist other staff, communicated well with inmates, and worked to make our facilities safer.

"Not only was Correctional Officer Gonzalez a corrections professional, but a beloved father of five children. His death is a great loss not only to CDC, but to his family, friends and co-workers.

"Our hearts and prayers go out to Correctional Officer Gonzalez' family and friends and to those employees who knew him and worked with him at California Institution for Men, California State Prison, Los Angeles County; and Corcoran State Prison. All of us have been touched by this loss and I know that we will all pull together to support each other during this difficult time."

The posting by GC has said it all. My prayers and thought are with the CO's family and friends. What a tragedy.

Ouch, he had 5 children! That always hurts to read. I mean yes, the death is horrible, but when I read how many children they are leaving behind, it always breaks my heart. My prayers go out to them.

OMG when is this madness going to STOP !!!!! :angry: This is really a tragedy it is horrible this man had a family and he was only doing he job it cost him his life how sad is that. My prayer goes to his family and his co-workers. It really makes me sad to read this if it is a CO or an inmate, the lost of life in general is a very sad thing. My heart goes out to all of you and his family.

How horrible! I hate to see stuff like this :(. My prayers and thoughts go out to his family, friends, and co workers as well.

I'm so sorry to hear about the officers death. Murder, by anyone is totally outrageous, and my sympathy goes to this man's family. BUT, isn't it amazing how fast the CDC got this information out to the media? I'm not trying to be a smart a** but why can't all killings be made public just as fast? I read someplace where a woman's son was beaten so bad that he was declared brain dead. Did this incident make it to the media and public? NO!! In fact the family wasn't even notified for over a month, then it took the family about a year just to find out where their son was, as he was sent to another facility. When he was finally found, the family was prevented from seeing him for several weeks. When asked for his medical files, the CDC said they could only provide them by the inmate signed a wiever or power of attorney. Not too many brain dead people can sign papers. What I'm trying to get at is that the CDC is very quick to get information out to the public when it helps them. I'm sure if this officer was an inmate, we would never learn of his death. No man, woman or child should be killed. Again,I sympathize with this family. God Be with you.

My prayers go out to this mans family. Five children are going to be without a father. a mother and father is going to be without a son, and a wife without a husband. This is a tragedy. Praying for the violence to end...

How sad. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends,and co-workers.

Terrible :( My thoughts go out to his family

Prayers and deepest sadness goes out to this man's family and co-workers.
May the Lord be with his family and the officers that worked with him daily as
they struggle to find answers to this horrible crime......:(

I sympathize with the family! :(

Not a word about this on the News today!

this is such a tragedy
my heart goes out to his familly
may Correctional Officer Manuel A. Gonzalez, Jr rest in peace
much peace and healing to his family, co-workers, and friends
francis

I can't help but think about this and how it might impact me some day. In the past year I've seen assaults on staff become much more aggressive than earlier in my career. Assaults normally occur when contraband is found on a person or in a cell. Recently it has become common that anyone in the area of the same group will become involved. Standing orders. No punishment CDC can hand out is equal to what they will face from their own group if they don't get involved. 25-50 inmates attacking 2-3 staff members is a situation that can lead to serious injuries and I'm surprised that more CO's haven't had career ending or worse injuries with the amount of punches and kicks that are thrown in a situation like that. Once responding staff arrive the inmates get down and its over. How many receive more time in a situation like that I dont know because its so hard to tell who did what. Not that it would be enough to stop someone from getting involved anyway. I really wonder sometimes what I or my partners will be able to do to protect ourselves. With so many coming after us and the repercussions less from CDC than their own, not to mention the "respect" earned by being involved, I'm not sure what we can do to stop it. From where I worked and where I now work and talking to people at other institutions this is a trend throughout the state. I know you all think its all about treatment but the assaults occur when someone is doing their job correctly. The inmates know that once they are down they will be cuffed and thats the end of it.

This is a terrible tragedy but there are many situations that could lead to the same end happening every day. I know you're all here to support each other and thats great but I get the feeling that because you are all on the same side you create a vision of what prison is and its easy for you all to believe but its nowhere near what really happens. For instance, you all talk about change but to me the biggest change we need is to provide better protection for CO's because these guys are getting bolder in what they do. You'll never read about somebody taking time off due to injurues or mentally not being able to return to work but it happens all the time.

I know that you won't agree with this but if anything good comes from it I hope its that the public will learn more about the challenges we face and show us a little support. Of course, the reality is that this will be forgotten by the end of the week.

While I agree with a lot of what you said, I am not sure this is the thread to say it on. Just my humble opinion.

i don't know, to me the whole thing is scary and sad, inmates, co's and the familys of both!!!

being that there are dangerous actions being taken by inmates, and co's....
and, their are dangerous actions aimed at inmates and co's

and there are plenty of inmates who should't be incarcerated at all, or for such long sentences..

i pray for peace

GC I agree with SGT Anonymous, but, since it was in your heart at the time I understand. I have alot to say about the system even though I do not work on the other side of the fence! Francis knows my heart and said it well! :cry:


Prayers for ALL!
Love
Kathy
Solutions? :confused:
Educate instead of Incacerate
More Prison's with less Prisoners

Opinions noted.

This is just terrible news.... I am so sorry for him and his family. Our local paper ran the story today. :(

My prayers go out to the family and co-workers of the slain officer. What a tragedy. And five children without a father. Just terrible.

My condolences to the family of Officer Gonzalez. A sad day for all.

My thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends and co-workers of Officer Gonzalez. I also wanted to say thank you to the correctional officers that work inside the prisons where our loved oned currenty live. I understand that you risk your lives and your saftey every day to keep our loved ones safe from eachother.

Peace and God Bless

My prayers go out to this man's family. May he rest in peace.

just a little note: GC, I am not about to insult you by say I totally understand. But I will say that I pray everyday for the safety of my husband and the CO's at his prison. You all risk your lifes everyday just as if you where a police officer on the streets.

I can't help but think about this and how it might impact me some day. In the past year I've seen assaults on staff become much more aggressive than earlier in my career. Assaults normally occur when contraband is found on a person or in a cell. Recently it has become common that anyone in the area of the same group will become involved. Standing orders. No punishment CDC can hand out is equal to what they will face from their own group if they don't get involved. 25-50 inmates attacking 2-3 staff members is a situation that can lead to serious injuries and I'm surprised that more CO's haven't had career ending or worse injuries with the amount of punches and kicks that are thrown in a situation like that. Once responding staff arrive the inmates get down and its over. How many receive more time in a situation like that I dont know because its so hard to tell who did what. Not that it would be enough to stop someone from getting involved anyway. I really wonder sometimes what I or my partners will be able to do to protect ourselves. With so many coming after us and the repercussions less from CDC than their own, not to mention the "respect" earned by being involved, I'm not sure what we can do to stop it. From where I worked and where I now work and talking to people at other institutions this is a trend throughout the state. I know you all think its all about treatment but the assaults occur when someone is doing their job correctly. The inmates know that once they are down they will be cuffed and thats the end of it.

This is a terrible tragedy but there are many situations that could lead to the same end happening every day. I know you're all here to support each other and thats great but I get the feeling that because you are all on the same side you create a vision of what prison is and its easy for you all to believe but its nowhere near what really happens. For instance, you all talk about change but to me the biggest change we need is to provide better protection for CO's because these guys are getting bolder in what they do. You'll never read about somebody taking time off due to injurues or mentally not being able to return to work but it happens all the time.

I know that you won't agree with this but if anything good comes from it I hope its that the public will learn more about the challenges we face and show us a little support. Of course, the reality is that this will be forgotten by the end of the week.

So sad and scary at the same time...

I feel very badly for this officer and his family, those poor children being without a father, I feel so bad for them. This CO was so young and his life taken probably for no reason whatsoever. I do hope that the people involved are caught and prosecuted.

I live in constant fear every single day of my life that something horrible might happen to my husband in there and this just makes me worry even more. My husband tries to keep to himself but that is not always possible.

I wish all this violence would just end.

Laurie

Prayers for Officer Gonzalez and his family - this is absolutely heartbreaking :( .

Yes this is heartbreaking. Did the article state what level is Chino Prison? What was this cop killer doing with mental promblems in general pop. This inmate didnt care about the Co's life. He has a 75life sentence. This is very upsetting.

Subject: [PNN] CA - Warden Seeks Help in Death Probe


http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-
prison12jan12,1,1649913.story?coll=la-headlines-california

REGION & STATE

Warden Seeks Help in Death Probe

Official asks that a state of emergency be declared at the Chino prison
while personnel investigate the fatal stabbing of a guard.
By Jenifer Warren
Times Staff Writer

January 12, 2005

SACRAMENTO — The director of corrections is expected to declare a state
of emergency today at the Chino prison where a guard was stabbed to
death, a move that would allow officials to suspend normal operating
rules in order to focus on the investigation.

In a memo Tuesday, Warden Lori DiCarlo said she was asking for the
emergency declaration because the Monday attack — the first killing of
a guard in 20 years — was resulting in extraordinary demands on her
staff.

A prison spokesman said Director Jeanne S. Woodford of the state
Department of Corrections probably would approve the request.

Meanwhile, Corrections Secretary Roderick Q. Hickman has asked counties
not to send new convicts to the California Institution for Men in Chino
while investigators sort out what led to the stabbing of Officer Manuel
Gonzalez.

"At this point, we're asking the counties to divert them to other
prisons or hold on to them," said Todd Slosek, director of
communications for the department.

"We're trying to maximize resources and focus on the investigation," he
said.

Gonzalez was stabbed three times shortly before 11 a.m. in the prison's
Sycamore Hall housing unit.

A 16-year veteran of the department, Gonzalez is survived by his wife
and six children, ages 3 to 22.

Officials suspect Jon Christopher Blaylock, 35, who was out of his cell
at the time. He has been transferred to another prison, along with two
inmates who were nearby when the attack occurred.

Blaylock began serving a 75-year sentence in June for attempted murder
of a peace officer and had served two previous terms in state prison.

Although his offense should have landed him in a high-security prison,
officials said, he had remained at Chino — a reception center for
incoming inmates awaiting transfer — because a mental condition made
him difficult to place.

Neither Gonzalez nor a second officer in the unit was wearing a
stab-proof vest, and some officials with the prison guards union have
criticized the department for being slow to distribute that gear.

Slosek said officials had been trying to obtain vests for all officers
but that "there are 30,000 of them, and it takes time. We have
purchased vests for officers at several institutions and are trying to
deploy them quickly."

Officials said that a state of emergency permits a warden to suspend
numerous regulations, particularly those that set deadlines for inmate
transfers and hearings on disciplinary citations and appeals. They did
not say how long the special status might last.

On Tuesday, investigators continued their inquiry into the killing, as
trauma specialists provided counseling to Gonzalez's co-workers.

A lockdown at the prison remained in effect, meaning that inmates were
fed in their cells and denied all privileges.

A lockdown imposed Monday at the state's other 32 prisons will be
lifted today, officials said.


Copyright 2005 Los Angeles Times

Good thoughts Jodie, and a horrible waste of a human life. Now Gonzalez' five children go fatherless and who is to blame. Sacramento bureaucrats need to get busy reforming the prison system. Blaylock has a mental disorder and is not accountable for this horrible crime. He should not be housed in prison but in a mental hospital where caretakers are educated and trained to handle the mentally ill. Our loved ones are not safe with inmates like Blaylock and others with mental problems any more than Gonzalez was. What a sad situation our prison system is in....only letter writing to the newspapers and changes in Sacramento will ever make the prison system improve.

Kats

The death of this respected prison guard is extremely tragic. So many lives will be changed forever.

If the prisoner, notably mentally ill, received proper placement rather than be thrown in the already overcrowded mix and left unattended, this circumstance may have been prevented.

Another fatal statistic emphasizing the desperate need to place the mentally ill where they need to be and not in prisons. I worry about my son's safety because the mentally ill are often locked in with other inmates. My son has written home about his own experiences and fear, yet he's particularly vulnerable and unprotected.

Many deaths and injuries have occurred in the last part of the year statewide and not enough information is being released, but some of the sketchy details have mentioned many of the inmates being mentally ill.

I don't want my son or anyone else becoming a statistic. A lot more can be done to protect inmates and guards. This didn't have to happen.

Prayers to the family and friends of the slain CO...along with co-workers.

Guess I am wondering to myself how many more of these incidents will being to arise since the prisons are so overcrowded now and it only gets worse each day...

Perhaps this is a wake up call for those that voted against Prop 66 as well and reducing some of the inmates for the non-violent crimes they are in for. Perhaps the parole board will start to let a few more inmates out and the parole sweeps will stop for a while as well ... I don't know what will happen each and every day to my man but I pray for his safety each day.

Rest In Eternal Peace, Manuel Gonzalez. :cry: :broken:

Well, GC, I think your heart just poured out and I respect the point you're trying to get across.

I have been doing this dance for 11 years with my husband and I do know that the situations seem to always get "bolder" (as you put it). I think the frustrations of the inmates play a huge part in it. Not that it's right, but, some of these dummies seem to think that more violence is the only way to get heard.

I think the reason why we are so quick to judge is because all we ever hear of is the mistreatment of our guys/gals. We, ourselves, have dealt with the wraths of CDC and for the most part, WE are treated like we have committed some kind of crime for loving and supporting an inmate. It's hard for us to walk in your guys' shoes when 9 times out of 10 we are treated so rudely by CO's. It's very rare that the CO's are nice to us. I'm not saying it isn't done, I have met some real dignified individuals along the years. And trust me, no one knows my name up there because I am so quiet and just keep to myself to get in and get out, so, I know I have given them no reason to be rude to me.

In the last year or so I have befriended what seems like an army of CO's in my neighborhood. There are so many prisons here, that seems to be the career of choice around here. I have met them as neighbors and they have met me as a single mom. It's only when we've gotten closer did we know what the real backround on eachother was and I have learned quite a bit. They have learned a bit from me, too, as it turns out. I think if the people that process us and answer our calls would treat us like human beings, we would be more apt to try and get to know them as individuals rather than just a man/woman in a green suit. It starts with the visitors - the voices of these inmates, really. I know that all situations inside the walls can't allow for friends because if you let your guard down, you're as good as dead, but, if you tried to see these men as fathers, sons, brothers, husbands, etc, then they may let their guard down. The inmates just want to be treated as humanely as possible, not just caged animals. We can only speak of what we know.

I respect you totally for your views. I just hope that all that you've seen in your career truly DOESN'T impact you in a way to make your soul numb. I wouldn't wish that on anyone and I don't think that any human, weather inmate or CO should be robbed of their souls by a prison experience. Although it is known to happen.