An Arizona prison inmate serving 16 life sentences for a 2004 standoff at a correctional institution is suspected of killing three inmates last week, officials said.
Ricky Wassenaar is the sole suspect in the deaths of the three inmates, which occurred after “an altercation” at the prison in Tucson on Friday, the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation & Reentry said.
The causes of the inmates’ deaths were not released, and an investigation is ongoing, the state agency, known as ADCRR, said in a statement.
“Preliminary reports suggest that inmate Wassenaar acted with intent to harm the three men,” the ADCRR said.
The incident happened at the Arizona State Prison Complex Tucson’s Cimarron Unit, the agency said.
Wassenaar and another inmate took two prison guards hostage in 2004 and held them captive in one of the longest prison standoffs in U.S. history.
He and Steven Coy used makeshift knives in the attack at Arizona State Prison Complex-Lewis. The standoff lasted for 15 days, although one officer was released after a week.
The corrections department did not say what led to Friday’s deadly incident at Arizona State Prison Complex Tucson.
The dead inmates were identified as Saul Alvarez, Thorne Harnage and Donald Lashley. They were all being housed at the Tucson prison complex, the ADCRR said.
Alvarez was serving a sentence for a conviction of first-degree murder, Harnage was convicted of sexual conduct with a minor, and Lashley was sentenced after he was convicted of sexual conduct with a minor and molestation of a child, the department said.
Wassenaar was sentenced in 2005 to 16 consecutive life terms after the prison standoff. He had been serving 28 years for armed robbery and assault when he and Coy attacked the guards.
The corrections department said there is no ongoing threat following Friday’s deadly incident at the Tucson prison complex.
The ADCRR’s inspector general’s office launched an investigation, it said.
“As this is an ongoing investigation, updates will be provided as they are available,” the corrections department said.
The Associated Press contributed.
