DATE: Monday, August 18, 1997               TAG: 9708180034

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B10  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: JARRATT, VA.                      LENGTH:   38 lines

GUARDS LOCK DOWN PRISON AFTER STABBED INMATE DIES

Greensville Correctional Center was under a lockdown Sunday as authorities investigated a fight that left one inmate dead and injured four others.

Shandoo J. Bussey, 21, died Saturday at the prison infirmary after being stabbed during a fight in the prison's recreation yard, Department of Corrections spokesman David Botkins said. Bussey was serving a 58-year sentence for robbery and firearms convictions.

At about 6:45 p.m. Saturday, a guard noticed several inmates scattering away from Bussey, Botkins said. Approximately 80 prisoners were in the yard at the time, many playing softball and basketball.

Guards quickly secured the yard, and about 20 inmates from Housing Unit 7 headed for the entrance to the unit, Botkins said.

Two guards stationed in the entrance to Housing Unit 7 were punched - one in the jaw, and the other in the face. Minutes later, another fight broke out between two inmates on the third floor.

Two inmates injured in the fight were taken to Medical College of Virginia Hospitals, Botkins said. Both underwent surgery and were listed in stable condition in the intensive care ward. They were identified as Maurice D. Reed, 22, and Octavion D. Ratcliffe, 23.

Two inmates were less seriously hurt and were treated and released from Greensville Memorial Hospital in Emporia, Botkins said. Howard M. Parker, 25, and Troy E. Chapman, 27, are back in prison.

Botkins said the stabbing and later fight were linked to a conflict between factions of prisoners.

``It was a Northern Virginia-Richmond faction issue,'' he said. ``It was not a prison riot.''

The lockdown means no visitation will be allowed and inmates will be confined to their cells all day. Botkins would not say how long the lockdown would continue.

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