Sheriff’s office investigating inmate’s razor blade attack in Fresno courthouse

The Sheriff’s Office is investigation how a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation inmate slashed the neck of another inmate with a razor blade Wednesday morning inside the downtown Fresno courthouse.

Sheriff’s spokesman Tony Botti said nine CDCR inmates were sitting handcuffed in a jury room, waiting for their court hearings. CDCR officers were in the room as well.

One of the inmates suddenly attacked another inmate, using a razor blade to deliver “a superficial wound to the man’s neck,” Botti said. The attacker then dropped the razor, and officers detained him. The injured man was taken to the hospital and treated for a minor wound, Botti said.

The assailant and the victim were not identified. The assailant will be charged with attempted murder, said Botti, who pointed out that it was not immediately known how the inmate acquired the razor blade. Neither the suspect nor the victim cooperated with investigators’ questions, he said.

Because of the incident, Botti said the Sheriff’s Office implemented a policy change at the courthouse that prohibits numerous CDCR inmates from gathering together in waiting rooms.