Crime & Safety

Sheriff's Deputies Storm Supermax Division When Inmates Attack Guards: VIDEO

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart says he will pursue attempted murder charges against three detainees accused of attacked correctional deputies.

COOK COUNTY, IL -- The Cook County Sheriff is seeking attempted murder charges on three maximum security inmates who attacked two correctional deputies with their fists at Cook County Jail. Both officers were sent to the hospital with serious injuries.

The attacked unfolded around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. According to Sheriff Tom Dart, three detainees repeatedly punched the two deputies in a housing tier in the notorious Division 9 super maximum facility. One deputy suffered a fractured orbital and the other was knocked unconscious and kept overnight for observation.

Surveillance video provided by the sheriff’s office show the inmates punching and kicking the correctional deputies. The guards were able to escape the attack by locking themselves in an office-type room. Numerous officers can be viewed running to the deputies’ aide. The responding officers swarm the tier where some inmates are already laying flat on the jail floor with their hands on their heads.

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Video via Cook County Sheriff

Two of the detainees under investigation in Wednesday’s attack, 19-year-old David Bush and 20-year-old Taiwan McNeal, are currently being held on attempted murder charges. Both have been accused of shooting an off-duty Oak Park police officer in 2015, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

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The third detainee, Terrence Lynom. 20, has been in Cook County Jail since 2014 for attempted murder. Lynom is said to have shot a 6-year-old girl riding her bike through Chicago’s Roseland neighborhood.

Dart said that each of the three detainees has had more than 20 court continuances on their original cases. Lynom has had 36 continuances. The three have had multiple disciplinary infractions issued since they have been in custody.

The sheriff is working with the Cook County State’s Attorney to seek attempted murder charges against the three inmates allegedly involved in attacking the correctional deputies. The investigation is ongoing.

The attack follows on the heels of a jailhouse fire that injured four correctional officers earlier this month, after some inmates set fire to their jail uniforms using a wick made in a microwave oven.

Detainees accused of attacking guards at Cook County Jail: David Bush, 19, Taiwan McNeal, 20 and Terrence Lynom, 20. | Cook County Sheriff


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