Deputy who stopped attack on officer at southern Illinois courthouse ‘saved lives’
A deputy who intervened in a struggle between an inmate and a correctional officer at the Jefferson County Courthouse in late October likely saved both their lives, according to a law enforcement expert.
“A lot of times law enforcement get criticized for overshooting,” said Thomas Trice, a police trainer and consultant, “but he stopped the threat, and when the threat stopped, he stopped. It saved both people’s lives.”
But Trice, who served 23 years as a police officer and spent two years as assistant superintendent of the St. Clair County Jail, said officers should learn from the attack.
“It’s a blessing that (correctional) officer wasn’t killed.”
On Oct. 26, 55-year-old Fredrick Goss wrestled a gun away from a correctional officer as he was assisting Goss from a vehicle to a wheelchair in the courthouse’s sally port. A round was fired during the struggle before a deputy intervened. The deputy fired his weapon and the inmate was wounded by the gunfire.
Nearly a month later, state and local law enforcement continued separate investigations into the incident.
Sheriff Jeff Bullard Sr. said his staff has nearly completed an internal investigation into the correctional officer and deputy’s conduct. Their investigation, led by the sheriff’s office chief deputy, will also determine if policies were followed or need to be changed.
The correctional officer, whose name was not released, appeared to be transporting the inmate alone to the courthouse in Mount Vernon, according to a video released by Illinois State Police. Having two officers present could have deterred the inmate from attempting to escape, Trice said. Bullard declined to discuss his office’s policies, citing the ongoing investigations.
The officer at one point turned his holstered weapon toward the inmate. Training can teach an officer to use a stance that keeps their gun side away from an inmate, or to rotate away quickly if an inmate grabs for the gun, Trice said. Once the struggle between the two began, it appeared the officer acted on survival instinct, he added.
“You can see the inmate takes a glance at officer’s waistline and then you can see him staring and deciding whether he’s going to go for it or not,” Trice said. “Once that happens, most law enforcement officers are trained how to retain their weapon.”
But correctional officers don’t always have that training especially in an ongoing basis to make it second nature. If it hadn’t been for the deputy, the situation could have been deadly.
“The secondary officer did an outstanding job of noticing and responding to what was going on,” Trice said.
It’s unclear what type of holster the officer had, Trice added, but some holsters will make it more difficult to steal a weapon.
Bullard, a first-term sheriff who worked for 28 years at the Mount Vernon Police Department, said his office is still reviewing the situation.
“We determine if the policies were followed and then what corrective action needs to be taken if policies were not being followed,” Bullard said.
The sheriff expected Illinois State Police to have mostly completed their criminal investigation of the inmate’s attempt to escape by late December.
Correctional officers in the United States face 36 times the number of workplace assaults and violent injuries compared to all other American workers, according to a study by the International Corrections and Prisons Association.
Investigating attacks and learning from them is essential to reducing that number, Trice said.
“You hate to Monday-night-quarterback, but it’s something that’s important to do to prevent this from happening again.”
Goss remained in custody as of Friday afternoon at the Marion County Jail, according to Bullard. The correctional officer has not yet returned to work, while the deputy returned after a nondisciplinary three-day paid leave following the incident, Bullard said.
This story was originally published November 20, 2021 at 8:00 AM.
