Press Releases
A North Carolina State Trooper and a few Good Samaritans are to be held as heroes for saving the life of a woman caught in rapids while tubing in the Tuckasegee River near Bryson City.
As students return to school and the peak of hurricane season arrives, Governor Roy Cooper declared September as North Carolina Preparedness Month to encourage individuals, families, schools and businesses to review their emergency plans and update their emergency supply kits.
ReBuild North Carolina has awarded over $286,000 to 22 families whose homes were damaged in Hurricane Matthew. The grants come through North Carolina’s Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding. The families are located in Cumberland, Edgecombe, Robeson and Wayne counties, and funding will be used to repair damaged homes and to reimburse homeowners for work that is already completed.
Secretary Erik A. Hooks announced today that Gary Mohr, a nationally recognized leader in corrections, has agreed to serve as a Senior Executive Advisor to the N.C. Department of Public Safety. Mohr will focus exclusively on prison issues with the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice. In this role, Mohr will work with DPS leadership to build upon ongoing efforts to reform prisons and make them safer. He will begin his work in North Carolina on Sept. 10.
What: Convocation for the start of the second year of the N.C. Field Minister Program
When: Sept. 5, 2018
Time: 1 p.m.
Where: Nash Correctional Institution
2869 U.S. 64 Alt., Nashville, NC 27856
Inmate Larry Bowman (#0752098) died Thursday at Maury Correctional Institution after an apparent suicide. He was found unresponsive in his cell at approximately 4:48 a.m. Prison medical staff and local paramedics responded and worked to resuscitate the inmate. He was pronounced dead at 5:50 a.m. at the facility
Bowman, 38, was convicted for first degree murder in McDowell County in 2004 and was serving a life sentence.
At approximately 2:48 p.m. on Aug. 28 at Scotland Correctional Institution, two inmates suffered injuries during an inmate-on-inmate assault in a housing unit. Both inmates were transported to outside medical facilities for treatment. Their conditions are unknown at this time.
No staff or other offenders were injured during this incident.
The incident is under internal investigation and local law enforcement was contacted. DPS is cooperating with local law enforcement and will seek criminal prosecution against any inmate involved in the assaults.
A combined effort from the Department of Public Safety Special Ops team (including K-9 units), county and local law enforcement aided in the capture of Gaston Correctional Center inmate Thomas Philbeck (#1211238) at approximately 5:30 a.m. Monday.
Philbeck was located in a mobile home rented by his father and has been returned to the Gaston Correctional Center, where he will face escape charges, in addition to being demoted from minimum custody.
Environmental reviews were approved today by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for Cumberland, Edgecombe and Wayne counties, which will allow homeowner awards to move forward on Hurricane Matthew repair projects funded by Community Development Block Grants for Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) in those counties.
On Aug. 22 at approximately 1:10 p.m. at Pasquotank Correctional Institution, an inmate was assaulted by another inmate with a homemade weapon and admitted to a local hospital for treatment. His injuries do not appear to be life-threatening, and the hospital lists his condition as stable.
At approximately 5:18 p.m., another inmate was assaulted by another inmate with a homemade weapon. The injured inmate was transported to outside medical, where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. He was released back to the facility following treatment.