San Diego, California - Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility officials are investigating an attempted murder incident that sent two custody staff members to the hospital.

At 9:25 a.m. today, inmate Williams Dawes, 36, ran up behind a correctional captain and struck him on the back of the head with a large piece of concrete rock. Inmate Dawes then attacked a responding officer by striking him in the face with the rock. The officer was able to defend himself and force inmate Dawes to the ground who continued to resist and assault the officer. Additional officers arrived and used physical force and a baton to subdue and restrain the inmate.

The captain and the officer were taken to an outside hospital for treatment. The captain suffered a head injury. The officer suffered injuries to his face and head. Both were treated and released. A sergeant was treated at the prison for minor injuries. All are expected to recover.

Inmate Dawes received minor injuries and was treated by medical staff at the prison. He was re-housed in the Administrative Segregation Unit pending an investigation.

Dawes was admitted December 10, 2008, from Orange County to serve a life sentence for the first-degree murder of an 11-year-old girl.

Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility opened in July 1987 on approximately 780 acres in San Diego County. The primary mission of the prison is to provide housing and supervision for minimum- to high-security inmates. Designed as a training and work-oriented facility, RJDCF provides health care, vocational, academic and industrial programs for nearly 3,200 male inmates and employs about 1,500 people.