Derek Chauvin, convicted of killing George Floyd, was reportedly stabbed in prison

Photo: AP Derek Chauvin, convicted of murdering George Floyd, reportedly stabbed in jail

It is understood that a former police officer, according to reports citing anonymous sources, was stabbed by a prisoner.

Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of killing George Floyd, was reportedly stabbed by another inmate and seriously injured at a federal prison in Arizona, a new report from the Associated Press (AP) reported, citing an anonymous source.

The attack is reported to have occurred on Friday. at the Tucson Federal Correctional Institution, a medium-security prison plagued by security lapses and staffing shortages.

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The AP said the person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the attack and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The incident was also reported by The New York Times, citing two people familiar with situation.

The Bureau of Prisons confirmed that an inmate was attacked at FCI Tucson around 12:30 p.m. local time Friday, according to the AP.

The agency said in a statement that responding officers contained the incident and took “life-saving measures” before the inmate, whom the agency did not name, was taken to a hospital for further treatment and evaluation.

No employees were injured and the FBI was notified, the Bureau of Prisons said. Visits to the facility, which houses about 380 inmates, have been suspended.

Messages seeking comment were left with Chauvin's lawyers and the FBI.

The incident was the second high-profile attack on a federal inmate in the past five months. In July, disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar was stabbed by an inmate at a federal prison in Florida.

It is also the second major incident at a Tucson federal prison in just over a year. In November 2022, an inmate at the facility's maximum security camp pulled out a gun and tried to shoot a visitor in the head. The weapon, which the prisoner should not have had, misfired, and no one was injured.

Chauvin, 47, was sent to FCI Tucson from a maximum security Minnesota prison. in August 2022, he must serve a concurrent 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd's civil rights and a 22.5-year state sentence for second-degree murder.

Chauvin's lawyer, Eric Nelson, argued for keeping him away from the public and other inmates in anticipation of him becoming a target. In Minnesota, Chauvin was kept in solitary confinement «primarily for his own protection,» Nelson wrote in court papers last year.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the appeal Chauvin. against his conviction for murder. In addition, Chauvin is seeking to overturn his federal guilty plea, arguing that new evidence shows he did not cause Floyd's death.

Floyd, who was Black, died May 25, 2020 a year after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee on his neck for 9.5 minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd was suspected of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill.

Bystander video captured Floyd's fading cries of «I can't breathe» as his death sparked protests around the world, some of which turned violent, and forced a nationwide reckoning with police brutality and racism.

Three other former officers at the scene received lesser fines and federal sentences for their roles in Floyd's death.