The Associated Press
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- A corrections officer at the West Virginia Industrial Home for Youth in Salem has been fired and four others suspended after several 17-year-old male residents were allegedly shocked with a stun gun.
“As I understand it, (the corrections officer) thought it would be really cool to stun one of the residents, which he did,” Randy Coleman, assistant secretary of the state Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, told The Charleston Gazette for Wednesday’s edition.
The corrections officer then allegedly allowed the 17-year-old and at least two others to use the weapon on each other.
The name of the seven-year employee at the facility has not been released.
The corrections officer could face felony criminal charges for bringing a weapon into a state prison, said Joe Shaffer, Harrison County prosecutor. The incident is under investigation by the West Virginia State Police, he said.
“These residents weren’t bullying each other,” said Cindy Largent, deputy director of Juvenile Services. They used it on one another “as sort of a game,” she said.