LOS ANGELES, CA – A 50-year-old inmate serving a life sentence is accused of trying to kill a correctional counselor during an attack at California State Prison, Los Angeles County, in Lancaster, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The incident occurred Sept. 10, 2026, at approximately 8:30 a.m. at the state prison, which is commonly referred to as LAC. According to prison officials, incarcerated person Marcus Curry allegedly attacked a correctional counselor as he was leaving the counselor’s office.
Staff members responded immediately and apprehended Curry without further incident, CDCR said. An improvised weapon was also recovered at the scene.
The correctional counselor was injured in the attack and transported to an outside medical facility for treatment. The employee was later released, according to CDCR.
Prison attack under investigation
The attack is being investigated as an attempted homicide by California prison officials.
Curry has been placed in restricted housing while the prison’s Investigative Services Unit investigates the circumstances surrounding the incident. Authorities have not publicly disclosed a motive, and the reason for the alleged attack remains under investigation.
The case is expected to be referred to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for attempted homicide charges.
At this stage, the allegation against Curry remains part of an ongoing investigation. The referral to prosecutors does not itself establish that criminal charges have been filed or that Curry has been convicted of the new allegation.
Information gathered by Street People from the prison department’s announcement indicates that the attack occurred while Curry was leaving the counselor’s office, rather than during a broader disturbance involving multiple incarcerated people.
Inmate has been at Lancaster prison since 2000
Curry has been housed at California State Prison, Los Angeles County, since March 28, 2000.
His current incarceration stems from multiple criminal cases and sentences. According to CDCR, he was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for possession of a firearm as a felon, a third-strike offense.
He also received a concurrent 20-year sentence for assault with a semiautomatic firearm on a peace officer as a second-striker, with enhancements related to firearm use and inflicting great bodily injury.
Curry was additionally sentenced in San Diego County on Feb. 13, 2002, to life with the possibility of parole for second-degree murder as a third striker. That sentence included an enhancement for the intentional discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury or death.
Those sentences predate the latest allegations at the Lancaster prison.
Counselor treated and released
Following the Sept. 10 attack, prison staff intervened and Curry was taken into custody within the facility.
The injured counselor was transported to an outside medical facility for additional treatment and was subsequently released. CDCR said peer support and other support services are being made available to employees following the incident.
The investigation by the LAC Investigative Services Unit is expected to determine the circumstances surrounding the attack, including what led to the confrontation and what happened immediately before and during the alleged assault.
The discovery of an improvised weapon at the scene is also part of the investigation.
California State Prison, Los Angeles County
California State Prison, Los Angeles County opened in 1993. The Lancaster facility houses approximately 3,250 incarcerated people across minimum-, medium-, maximum- and high-security custody levels, according to CDCR.
The institution provides academic classes and vocational programs and employs approximately 1,700 people.
The prison has been the site of other serious investigations in recent years, including cases involving alleged attacks on correctional staff. In the current case, however, officials have identified Curry as the person allegedly involved and said the matter will be referred to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for possible attempted homicide charges.
The investigation remains ongoing, and the motive behind the alleged attack has not been disclosed.
