TUCSON, Ariz. — Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, serving a sentence for the murder of George Floyd, was released from the hospital and returned to prison after being attacked and stabbed numerous times by a fellow inmate last week.
Chauvin was hospitalized after another inmate at the same prison, former gang member John Turscak, stabbed him 22 times in the facility's library on Nov. 24, according to charging documents. The 52-year-old Turscak allegedly told prison guards he would have killed DC had it not been for their involvement.
Turscak also told FBI investigators he had been contemplating attacking DC for a month before seeing an opportunity on that November day in the library, according to the criminal complaint against him.
"I had a telephone conference with Derek’s family yesterday, and they confirmed that his medical condition has improved to the extent that he has been removed from the trauma care facility at a local Tucson hospital and returned to prison custody," said Gregory Erickson in a statement.
Chauvin was returned to the prison for follow-up care, according to Erickson's statement. The attorney says the former officer's family remains "unassured" that any changes have been made to the procedures that allowed the near-fatal attack to occur in the first place.
"It remains a mystery how the perpetrator was able to obtain and possess dangerous materials [that were able to be formed into an improvised knife], and how a guard was unable to reach and apprehend the perpetrator until Derek had been stabbed twenty-two times," read the letter distributed to reporters. "Why was Derek allowed into the law library without a guard in close enough proximity to stop a possible attack? His family continues to wonder."
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist:
WATCH MORE ON KARE 11+
Download the free KARE 11+ app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms to watch more from KARE 11 anytime! The KARE 11+ app includes live streams of all of KARE 11's newscasts. You'll also find on-demand replays of newscasts; the latest from KARE 11 Investigates, Breaking the News and the Land of 10,000 Stories; exclusive programs like Verify and HeartThreads; and Minnesota sports talk from our partners at Locked On Minnesota.
- Add KARE 11+ on Roku here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Roku Channel Store.
- Add KARE 11+ on Fire TV here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Amazon App Store.
- Learn more about the KARE 11+ app for Apple TV in the Apple App Store.
- Learn more about KARE 11+ here.