The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN Tribune Staff Reporter sbrown@tribunemedia.net A PRISON inmate was shot yesterday morning after managing to escape custody while at the hospital. Dorion Ambrister, 28, escaped by jumping through a bathroom window at the Princess Margaret Hospital at about 5.40am. Fox Hill press spokesman Sergeant D McKenzie said: "Armbrister was under 24-hour guard by a prison officer while at the hospital. He was allowed to use the restroom but used that opportunity to escape by jumping through a window despite being outfitted with leg restraints. "He was caught a short time later around 6am by a prison officer who was forced to shoot him after the inmate confronted him with a blunt, wooden object. "His injuries do not appear to be life threatening." Armbrister, who was hospitalised on Monday for unknown reasons, was serving a 27-month sentence for stealing from a shop. Despite reports from the prison that Armbrister was only free for 25 minutes before being caught, a source claims he was on the run for nearly four hours before finally being shot twice in the buttocks by prison officers on Dowdswell Street. Armbrister is now back in the hospital under police guard. Superintendent of Prison Ellison Rahming refused to comment, other than to say an investigation in the matter in underway. This incident is just one in a string of blunders by prison officers in recent times. In October, the key to a cell block at Her Majesty's Prison went missing, raising questions about the accountability of the facility. According to sources inside the prison, a daily counting system is used to keep a record of all keys. However, a key that opened "a few" cells went missing. This led to a partial prison lockdown while a search was conducted. The key was never found. A press statement was later released that said measures are now being put in place to ensure the key would be rendered useless.