Inmates at Massachusetts’s only maximum-security prison attacked and stabbed two corrections officers multiple times Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.
Another three corrections officers were also injured when responding to the inmate assault, which occurred at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Lancaster about 50 miles northwest of Boston, the Massachusetts Department of Correction confirmed.
The correction department said it was notified of the assault at 6:20 p.m.
“The facility is secure at this time while an investigation is conducted to determine the facts and circumstances,” said Scott Croteau, a spokesman for the state’s Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, in a statement USA TODAY.
The Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union first shared news Wednesday evening on Facebook, claiming that an officer was stabbed in the back and head.
While Croteau confirmed that all five officers who were injured were taken to hospitals for treatment, the extent of their injuries was not immediately clear.
The Massachusetts State Police have been notified of the attack, he added.
The union, which represents about 4,000 corrections officers and other corrections employees, has been regularly sounding the alarm on dangerous working conditions at prisons across the state.
Earlier this month, the union shared a Boston Herald editorial warning of the dangers of “makeshift knives” in Massachusetts prisons. In another post, the organization argued: “The dangers that currently exist cannot be overstated … We just want to ensure we are given the tools to do our jobs and go home safely to our families.”
Last month, the union told the Boston Herald that dozens of “homemade sharpened weapons” were found inside Souza-Baranowski.
Following Wednesday’s attack, the union took to Facebook to criticize the Department of Correction, claiming it’s been four years since the agency had “authorized the use of tactical units and done a thorough institution wide search.”
“ENOUGH!” the union wrote. “How much more do our members have to endure before you decide to keep them safe? The inmates are literally running the asylum. Do your jobs.”
USA TODAY left a message Thursday morning with the union that was not immediately returned.
The Department of Corrections did not did not immediately respond to USA TODAY regarding the union’s claims.
Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com
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AMHERST — The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts elected the Very Rev. Miguelina Howell the 10th bishop diocesan. The election took place Saturday at the University of Massachusetts Amherst as part of the annual diocesan convention immediately following the Convention Eucharist.
Howell, dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford, Conn., was elected on the first ballot out of a field of three nominees.
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The 2025 Massachusetts high school football season continued on Friday, and High School On SI has a list of final scores from the second weekend of playoff action.
Massachusetts High School Football Schedule & Scores (MIAA) – November 14, 2025
Amesbury 34, Uxbridge 13
Archbishop Williams 28, Hanover 26
Belchertown 30, Athol 18
Bellingham 21, Norwood 9
Beverly 42, Reading Memorial 33
Bishop Feehan 33, Chelmsford 12
Bishop Fenwick 24, Abington 14
Bridgewater-Raynham 28, Billerica Memorial 7
Brighton 46, Boston Latin 24
Canton 27, Marblehead 22
Carver 46, Sharon 6
Catholic Memorial 47, Wellesley 0
Central 49, Lowell 14
Central Catholic 20, Natick 17
Chicopee 36, Monument Mountain 12
Clinton 18, West Bridgewater 6
Cohasset 42, Rockland 6
Dracut 28, Lowell Catholic 22
Dover-Sherborn 38, Wareham 8
Duxbury 38, Burlington 14
Essex North Shore Agriculture & Tech 42, Greater New Bedford RVT 14
Fairhaven 34, Stoneham 6
Falmouth 32, Somerset Berkley Regional 24
Fitchburg 22, Ayer Shirley 20
Foxborough 28, Gloucester 0
Frontier Regional 12, Easthampton 0
Greater Lawrence Tech 48, Southeastern RVT 13
Hudson 34, Old Rochester Regional 13
Keefe Tech 41, Old Colony RVT 8
King Philip Regional 42, Mansfield 12
Leicester 41, Bartlett 20
Ludlow 34, Mahar Regional 0
Malden Catholic 28, Hingham 13
Maynard 15, Oxford 14
McCann Tech 24, Northampton 16
Methuen 36, Arlington 13
Milton 41, Masconomet Regional 27
Nantucket 13, Medway 7
Narragansett Regional 27, Lunenburg 21
Nashoba Valley Tech 20, KIPP Academy Lynn Collegiate 8
Needham 14, Newton North 12
North 36, Burncoat 28
North Attleborough 42, Barnstable 21
North Reading 21, Medfield 20
Northbridge 49, Millbury 20
Norwell 41, Pentucket Regional 14
Norton 24, Middleborough 13
Oakmont Regional 42, Gardner 22
Pathfinder RVT 42, Smith Vo-Tech 12
Quabbin Regional 20, Montachusett RVT 6
Randolph 46, Hoosac Valley 13
Scituate 34, Walpole 28
Shawsheen Valley Tech 28, St. Mary’s 7
South Shore Vo-Tech 30, Minuteman Regional 6
St. John’s 36, Wachusett Regional 35
St. John’s Prep 48, Leominster 32
Stoughton 42, Silver Lake Regional 6
Tantasqua Regional 42, Shrewsbury 35
Tewksbury Memorial 34, Ashland 7
Tyngsborough 40, St. Bernard’s Central Catholic 8
West Boylston 41, Bourne 20
Westborough 45, Groton-Dunstable 28
Westwood 41, Brookline 14
Whittier RVT 26, Bristol-Plymouth RVT 20
Winchester 38, Lincoln-Sudbury 21
Xaverian Brothers 49, Andover 17
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