COLUMBIA, S.C. — Another detainee has been hospitalized following a stabbing at Alvin S Glenn Detention Center in Columbia. Deputies from the Richland County Sheriff's Department answered a call about this latest incident around 10:22 p.m. Tuesday, January 16, 2024.
The detainee, who was waiting for deputies in the booking area, told deputies he had been stabbed multiple times by another detainee about an hour earlier. Deputies took photographs to document the detainee's injuries -- three stab wounds in the back and four wounds on his left hand -- and took into evidence a black or gray colored knife that had been confiscated by a guard.
According to the victim, an argument broke out between him and another detainee over an issue where the detainee was confronted by the victim for stealing food from another detainee. The victim said after the argument was over, he was in the bathroom when the attack occurred.
There were no witnesses to the attack, and the cameras were not pointed in the direction of the bathroom.
After the incident, the victim was transferred from Bravo pod to booking to await transfer to a local hospital.
Deputies interviewed a person of interest who claimed he had no knowledge of the event and believed the victim's wounds were self-inflicted.
Tuesday's incident was the fourth at Alvin S Glenn since January 1, where an individual was injured. During the first week of the new year, there were three separate incidents during which five detainees were stabbed or injured. Wednesday's victim was the sixth person injured.
The US Department of Justice is investigating Richland County's detention center over "whether the Alvin S Glenn Detention Center is engaging in a pattern or practice of violating the constitutional rights of individuals housed in the detention center by failing to provide constitutional living conditions and failing to protect incarcerated individuals from harm due to violence by other incarcerated individuals." Any such incidents would be used as data points in the DoJ's investigation.
In mid-December 2023, News19's Darci Strickland took a behind-the-scenes look inside Alvin S Glenn and interviewed jail leaders.