Georgia deputy stabbed to death with his own knife by inmate

A Georgia deputy was allegedly stabbed to death with his own knife early Tuesday morning by an inmate at the Bibb County Jail.

“We’re here on a sad morning for the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office,” Sheriff David Davis said, according to a local CBS News affiliate. “We’ve lost a fine deputy in the jail and had another one injured.”

Authorities say deputy Christopher Knight was stabbed in the neck by Albert Booze while he was transporting the inmate to suicide watch after Booze said he had thoughts about hurting himself.

Davis said deputies are allowed to carry knives in the jail in order to cut materials that inmates could use to commit suicide, ABC News reported.

Both deputies were taken to the hospital where Knight succumbed to his injuries. The other deputy, identified as Jerome Michael Williams, survived and is expected to make a full recovery.

Booze was in jail under charges of criminal damage to property, criminal trespassing and giving a false name to law officers. He’s been at the jail since November.

“These are sometimes dangerous people that we deal with, and they’re sometimes unpredictable and tragic things can happen,” Davis said. “These deputies come to work every day knowing that they have a duty to perform and that there are dangers inherent in what they do, and our hearts go out to them.”

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Bibb County Sheriff’s Office will be conducting investigations into the incident.