Our tax dollars at work.

2 dead in Fla. detention center shooting

By BRENT KALLESTAD, Associated Press Writer

22 minutes ago

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A guard at a federal detention center opened fire as investigators came to arrest him and five other guards Wednesday, starting a gunfight that killed two people and wounded another, the FBI said.

The six guards were indicted Tuesday on corruption charges alleging they brought alcohol and other contraband into the part of the prison where female inmates were held and sold it or exchanged it for sex with the inmates or the inmates' silence.

When FBI agents and Justice Department investigators arrived at the center Wednesday morning to arrest the six men, one of the indicted guards shot at a federal correctional institution officer, said FBI spokesman John Girgenti. He said the officer fired back while trying to escape the shooting.

Girgenti declined to comment on who the victims were or whether the shooter was among them. Tallahassee police said earlier that the shooter was in custody.

The condition of the survivor and identities of the victims were not immediately released.

"The community is safe. The institution is in lockdown status," federal Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Carla Wilson said.

The detention center houses mostly men and is part of the Tallahassee Federal Correctional Institution. A low security prison for female inmates is next to the detention center. Together the men's and women's units total 1,445 inmates.

Now call me an asshole if you will, but wouldn’t it have been smarter to arrest these dudes, separately, at home—you know where they weren’t carrying around their federally issued firearms? I’m just saying that these guys are basically rapists and I think that perhaps that implies they aren’t to be trusted. But what the hell do I know?

Thanks FBI, for another ridiculous blunder job well done.