A state prisoner was on restricted housing Monday after allegedly attacking two correctional officers during an inspection of his cell at California State Prison, Los Angeles County in Lancaster.
According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Shuantae R. Taylor, 43, stabbed the two officers with an improvised weapon around 6:45 p.m. Sunday when they entered his cell for an inspection.
It was unclear what motivated Taylor to attack the two officers, who were both taken to a hospital for treatment and later released, officials said.
“Staff quickly quelled the attack and no other staff members were injured,” according to a CDCR statement.
Taylor was moved to a different facility, where he is currently in restricted housing as authorities investigate the stabbing. The case has been referred to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for possible formal criminal charges, according to the CDCR.
Taylor, of San Bernardino County, is serving a life prison sentence with the possibility of parole for offenses including oral copulation by force, violence, or fear of immediate bodily injury; use of a firearm or deadly weapon during specified sexual offenses; rape by force, violence, or fear of bodily injury; and making criminal threats to cause severe bodily injury or death.
He is also serving a roughly 40-year sentence for discharging a firearm in an inhabited dwelling, vehicle, or aircraft, with enhancements for the intentional discharge of a firearm causing excessive bodily injury or death, and other related charges.
Taylor was also sentenced by a Kings County court on May 9, 2019, to serve four years in prison for aggravated battery on a peace officer while in custody by gassing, an in-prison offense, according to the CDCR.
He was sentenced by a Kern County court on Sept. 28, 2020, to serve 10 years for battery on a “non-prisoner” while he remained in custody.