TUCSON, Ariz. — A fellow inmate stabbed and seriously wounded former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, according to a source inside the Tucson federal prison. Chauvin was serving a sentence for choking George Floyd to death in Minneapolis in 2021, sparking racial unrest nationally. Floyd was black, Chauvin white. In Tucson the prison confirmed that a stabbing had occurred but declined to release the victim’s name. Prison guards had attempted life-saving measures, according to the prison’s terse statement in response to news media queries. The original source said that Chauvin, 47, was sent to a hospital. The source said that no other inmates or prison staff were injured. The situation was described as “quickly contained.”
Aerial and interior views. Located 10 miles southeast of downtown Tucson.
Prison profile
The U.S. Penitentiary nn Tucson opened in 2005 to accommodate 1,500 high-security male inmates. Typically the prison has a population of 1,000. The 640-acre campus includes a minimum-security satellite facility with inmates who are assigned tasks prison-wide because of staff shortages. Weapons have been a problem over the years. In 2009 several inmates were hospitalized after fights with improvised weapons Also in 2009 an inmate was caught with a plastic shank fashioned from his prison chair. A subsequent search of the kitchen found weapons, drug paraphernalia, and other contraband.
Earlier: U.S. Supreme Court won’t take Chauvin appeal
Earlier: Killer-cop Chauvin appeals to U.S. Supreme Court
Earlier: U.S. Supreme Court next for Chauvin murder appeal?
Earlier: Chauvin loses appeal in George Floyd murder
Earlier: Chauvin update: $9 million to brutality victims
Earlier: Overzealous cop Chauvin to Arizona prison
Earlier: More prison for killer-cop Chauvin
Earlier: Judge OK’s Chauvin plea deal in civil case