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Four inmates were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital after being stabbed in separate incidents at the Fulton County Jail over a 48-hour period ending on Friday, officials confirmed.
It follows yet another stabbing on Wednesday, when inmate Kelvin Watts was rushed to the hospital after being stabbed multiple times. He remains hospitalized.
Sheriff Patrick Labat says this crisis is not new, and that county leaders have failed to act.
“We need immediate relief. I’ve said that since January 1 of 2021, when I took office. I said that in the beginning of my second term, and I will continue to say that we need action now,” Labat told FOX 5’s Aungelique Proctor in a sit down interview on Wednesday.
The sheriff has repeatedly blamed deteriorating conditions inside the Rice Street facility for escalating violence. During a tour in July 2024, he said the jail is being exploited by increasingly dangerous inmates.
“We have a more violent element, more violent residence that we take care of. As such, the building is being weaponized, so to that extent, that is why I have been steadfast that we need a replacement,” Labat said at the time.
Fulton County commissioners declined to build a replacement facility. Instead, they approved a $1.2 billion plan to construct a new mental health unit and renovate the current Rice Street jail, a move the sheriff says is short-sighted and too slow.
The overcrowding crisis is adding to public anger. Labat confirms 66 inmates are currently sleeping on the floor.
Some critics blame internal jail management. But at Monday’s Atlanta City Council meeting, at least one local official publicly agreed with the sheriff.
“It was wrong for Fulton County not to build a new jail, absolutely wrong. It would be wrong for Atlanta not to continue to aide Fulton County,” said Councilman Michael Julian Bond, Post 1 At Large.
“Voices of the advocates and the commissioners and the sheriff need to be in the same room, and they need to recognize they have the same problem. Personal issues of not liking the sheriff and withholding money is hurting the people that we serve” Bond said with emotion.
