Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Guard Shoots Inmate in Foot During Cell Search

In the second time in less than a week, a guard at the state prison here shot and wounded a maximum security inmate who would not comply with orders, prison officials said.

Eric Hall, who is serving a 13-year, 4-month sentence for robbery, assault with a firearm and firing shots at an occupied vehicle, was hit in the left foot Tuesday with a single bullet from a 9-millimeter rifle during the 10:45 a.m. incident at the state prison.

A Feb. 9 fight between two maximum security inmates ended when a guard fired one round from a 9-millimeter rifle, striking one of the brawling inmates in the left shoulder.

Prison officials said the shooting Tuesday stemmed from a routine cell search. Inmate Hall would not leave the area “and took an aggressive stance,” spokesman Kenn I. Hicks said. Further instructions were ignored and the officer hit Hall on the thigh with a baton and fired wooden blocks from a rifle before the 9-millimeter gun was fired, Hick said.