Inmate charged in attack on guards
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WAYNESBURG – Charges were filed Tuesday against an SCI-Greene inmate in connection with an alleged attack on corrections officers Dec. 25.
Officer Sean Michael Hilling said he was on shower detail when he opened a cell for inmate, Brian Kirk Byrnes, 32, of Lancaster County. According to state police, surveillance video showed Byrnes exit his cell and then strike Hilling in the face. As Hilling backed away, Byrnes went after Hilling and continued the attack.
According to Hilling’s statement, he grabbed the upper body of Byrnes and gave verbal commands for him to stop resisting, but he did not. Hilling said he then held onto Byrnes arm until another officer, Joshua Cloyd Sumey, also on shower detail, arrived to render aid.
Police said Sumey is seen on the video running toward Hilling and Byrnes. Byrnes then lunged at Sumey and struck him in the torso. Byrnes continued to fight with the officers, who managed to take him to the ground and get one handcuff on him prior to the arrival of additional guards. Byrnes is serving a 20-to-40 year-sentence for criminal attempt to commit homicide and criminal conspiracy. He was convicted on May 19, 1998, following a jury trial in Lancaster County. Byrnes was 16 years old at the time of his arrest but his status was elevated to an adult for purposes of trial and sentencing.
According to court records, Byrnes and another juvenile stabbed and slashed Thomas Coleman, a graduating senior at Franklin and Marshall College, 21 times to his head, face, neck, chest and back. During the attack, Coleman pulled off Brynes’ jacket with his identification in the pocket. A passerby stopped the assault by flashing his car lights and blowing the horn. He took Coleman to a nearby hospital where several emergency surgeries were performed, saving Coleman’s life. One of two knives at the scene were later identified by Byrnes as belonging to him.
State police have charged Byrnes with assault by a prisoner, aggravated assault, simple assault and harassment. The charges were filed with District Judge Glenn Bates.