Huntsville, TX - Inmate Steals Guards Gun - Steals City Truck - Runs Over and Kills Guard

Guard killed in Texas prison escape


Two inmates classified as minimum security prisoners bolted from a work detail after wresting weapons from a pair of guards, trading gunfire with officers, stealing a truck and running down a guard who was on horseback, killing her.
The inmates in Monday's incident - one in prison for murder, the other for attempted murder - had been assigned to do field work outside the prison under the supervision of officers. They were allowed to do the work because of their good disciplinary records.

"In this case, obviously, something went wrong," said Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Michelle Lyons.

The prisoners ditched the stolen truck and carjacked another vehicle. One inmate was apprehended within an hour. The second was caught hiding in a tree about 3 1/2 hours later, after a manhunt that included a police helicopter, lawmen on horseback, and bloodhounds.

John Ray Falk, 40, the first inmate caught, began serving a life sentence for murder in 1986. Jerry Martin, 37, who began serving a 50-year attempted murder sentence in 1997, was found hiding in a tree. He had stripped to his boxer shorts in a futile attempt to prevent dogs from detecting his scent, Lyons said.

Authorities said the men will be charged at least with felony escape. It has not been determined yet what charges they will face in the death of the officer.

Martin and Falk were among 76 inmates working in a garden outside the Wynne Unit prison just north of Huntsville Monday morning. They were being guarded by six officers, Lyons said.

At about 10:10 a.m. in the field along Interstate 45, one of the two inmates approached officer Susan Canfield to ask her to hold what officials believed was a watch, Lyons said. When Canfield, on horseback, reached for the object, a struggle ensued and the inmate got her weapon. The second inmate was able to get another officer's weapon, Lyons said.

The two inmates exchanged gunfire with officers, stole a city truck from a nearby parking area and ran over Canfield as she tried to stop them, Lyons said. It was not clear who was driving the truck.

Canfield, 59, had been a corrections officer for seven years, Lyons said.

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