Prison Guards 'Staged Gladiator-Style Fight'

Prison guards allegedly created a "gladiator-like scenario" to let two handcuffed inmates fight before a corrections officer shot one dead and wounded the other.

The trainee officer at High Desert State Prison fired four shotgun blasts according to the lawsuit filed at a Nevada state court by the family of the dead prisoner, 28-year-old Carlos Manuel Perez Jr.

Lawyer Cal Potter, representing the family, claimed the shooting on 12 November was an execution.

He said guards had staged the fight by allowing two inmates to encounter each other in a shower hallway in administrative segregation (ad seg) - where prisoners are supposed to be kept apart for their safety.

"Officers know they will see a fight if they release ad seg inmates that are supposed to be in walk-alone status," he said.

"Defendants ... refused to intervene. On the contrary (they) created a gladiator-like scenario and allowed the inmates to fight."

The lawsuit names two corrections officers and a shooter, said to be a trainee, by their last names only.

It alleges wrongful death; excessive force; deliberate indifference to Perez's medical needs; negligent training and supervision; and intentional infliction of emotional distress. It seeks unspecified damages in excess of $30,000 (£20,000).

Perez was serving 18 months to four years for hitting a man in the head with a two-by-four piece of wood in downtown Las Vegas in 2012.

The Clark County coroner ruled his death a homicide, after finding he died of gunshot wounds to the head, neck, chest and arms.

The other inmate, Andrew Jay Arevalo, 24, survived with gunshot wounds to the face, according to his attorney, Alexis Plunkett. She said her client told her that he and Perez were handcuffed when they were shot.

Arevalo is serving two to six years in prison after being jailed in June 2013 for burglary.

Ms Plunkett said she planned to file an excessive force lawsuit over the coming weeks on Arevalo's behalf.

Mr Potter represents Perez's brother, Victor Perez, and mother, Myra Perez, both of Reno, and two children, aged 3 and 2.

The lawyer said Perez's family was given conflicting statements during initial meetings with prison administrators after his death, and were not told Perez had been shot.

"They were devastated three days later when they went to the mortuary and learned that Carlos had ... multiple gunshot wounds to his face and upper body," he said.

Deputy prisons chief Brian Connett has insisted the state Department of Corrections is a responsible steward of the safety and security of guards and inmates.

He has said the shooting came in response to two inmates fighting at the prison, which houses around 3,500 inmates. The three accused corrections officers remain on paid leave pending action by the attorney general.