Philadelphia corrections officer stabbed 12 times inside prison

HOLMESBURG (WPVI) -- Officials say a corrections officer was stabbed multiple times by an inmate inside the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Philadelphia's Holmesburg section.

It happened around 5:45 p.m. Wednesday at the prison facility which is located in the 7900 block of State Road.

The suspected inmate is identified as Matthew Early.

The corrections officer is identified as 25-year-old Tyree Holmes.

Authorities say Holmes was making his rounds in the B2 Pod 1 unit, which houses some of the city's most violent criminals.

Union officials say Early approached the officer from behind and stabbed him several times.

"He was stabbed 12 times in the back, neck, and head," said Lorenzo North, union president.

North says Holmes was stabbed with a homemade knife known as a shank. It was recovered at the scene.

Holmes was treated and released late Wednesday evening from Aria Health/Torresdale.

Prison officials say the facility was put on lockdown, and all evening visits were canceled.

"The correctional officers, I'd say, walk the toughest beat in the City of Philadelphia. We're locked in with inmates. Although we don't complain about the job, it's a dangerous job," said North.

The suspect was behind bars for firing shots into a SEPTA train, striking two men.

It was back in December 2012 that Early and his brother Eric were on the Market Frankford El.

They had gotten into a verbal altercation with a Chicago Bulls fan after a Sixers game.

Early was seen in surveillance video, getting off the train, turning around, pulling out a gun, firing into the train and striking one man.

The bullet passed through the first victim and hit a second man.

Charges against Early's brother were later dropped but back in May, and Early pled guilty to attempted murder.

Early had been in and out of the hospital for competency hearings which were ordered by a judge. He was scheduled to undergo another one when this most recent incident happened.

Officials say Early will undergo a mental health evaluation.