An apparently suicidal inmate took a corrections officer hostage Monday at the Arizona State Prison Complex at Douglas.
The officer was released physically unharmed after about 30 minutes, and the inmate was restrained, said Bill Lamoreaux, a state Department of Corrections spokesman.
The ordeal began when inmate Marcus A. Davis, 41, met with the officer, who was his case manager, in the Mohave Unit Programs Building shortly before 10 a.m., said Lamoreaux.
Davis grabbed the officer and claimed to have a knife on the back of her neck. Davis told her he was doing a life sentence, his mother was dying of cancer and he had nothing to lose, Lamoreaux said.
The officer picked up her radio and Davis told her to call the person in charge and for the Special Weapons and Tactics team to respond.
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The unit deputy warden walked into the office where Davis was holding the corrections officer hostage, and Davis told the warden that he did not intend to hurt the officer, and wanted the SWAT team to kill him, said Lamoreaux.
The warden talked to Davis for about 15 minutes before Davis released the officer. The knife Davis said he held turned out to be a pen, Lamoreaux said.
The officer was taken by ambulance to a local hospital for evaluation as a precautionary measure, and was released.
Davis is serving a life sentence for first-degree murder with a consecutive sentence for armed robbery out of Maricopa County.
He is under continuous watch and is awaiting a psychological assessment, Lamoreaux said.
A criminal investigation is continuing, and the incident appears to have been a “suicide-by-cop” attempt, said Lamoreaux.
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