LAWRENCE COUNTY — The condition of a Lawrence Correctional Center officer who was hospitalized earlier this month following an attack by multiple inmates has reportedly taken a turn for the worse.

The officer was reportedly transported to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis where he was placed on a ventilator. While the officer’s name has been given on social media, we will not release it without an official release.

He was initially taken to Belleville Memorial Hospital after he reportedly became dizzy, was passing out and couldn’t breathe.

As we reported last week, Illinois Department of Corrections spokeswoman Nicole Wilson confirmed that the officer was assaulted on Friday, January 15.

She said the department had launched a criminal investigation into the incident that led to the officer’s hospitalization for medical treatment. Last week Wilson and union spokesman Eddie Caumiant confirmed the officer was recovering at home from his injuries.

Since the officer’s return to the hospital, LCC Warden Stephen Duncan and the prison Chaplin have taken a state car to Barnes-Jewish to see him.

Caumiant reported the officer was assaulted January 15 by 2-3 inmates who knocked him unconscious and while he was on the floor they began kicking him in the head and torso.

According to Caumiant, new policies and procedures regarding inmates classified as “seriously mentally ill,” are placing staff and other inmates in danger of such attacks, and AFSCME is deeply troubled by such events and policies.