A correction officer at a state prison in Ross County was killed on Christmas Day.
Corrections Officer Andrew Lansing died after an inmate assault at Ross Correctional Institution in Chillicothe, according to a prepared statement shared on social media by Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Director Annette Chambers-Smith.
Lansing was a long-time, well-respected employee at the Ross County facility, Chambers-Smith wrote. She added that Lansing was loved by his colleagues and was a “friendly, outgoing officer who treated everyone with respect and was always a professional.”
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She wrote his untimely death, especially on Christmas Day, is “heartbreaking for his family, the entire Ross Correctional Institution family, and our agency as a whole.”
“The loss of a staff person is difficult, but to lose a family member on Christmas Day at the hands of someone in our custody is a tragedy beyond comprehension,” Chambers-Smith wrote. “Instead of going home after his shift to be with his family on this holiday, Officer Lansing made the ultimate sacrifice, and our agency will never be the same.”
The Ross Correctional Institution is currently operating under restricted movement following Lansing’s death. The Ohio State Highway Patrol is investigating the incident and the inmate suspect has been transferred to the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, Chambers-Smith said.
Lansing’s death comes just a few months after another corrections officer was killed during a training exercise.
Lt. Rodney Osborne from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction’s Southern Ohio Correctional Facility was killed during a training exercise in April.
mdevito@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Corrections officer killed after inmate assault on Christmas Day