CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Cherokee County community continues to mourn the loss of a detention officer who was shot and killed by an inmate during a routine transport, which has sparked new conversations around the safety and burden placed on local jails that house federal inmates.
Investigators say the deadly encounter happened while Detention Officer Francisco Paul Flattes was escorting the inmate to a medical appointment. At some point during the trip, the inmate managed to overpower Flattes, take his weapon and fatally shoot him.
The inmate was being held on federal charges, a situation more common than many realize in local jails across the country…