Police: Inmates Killed 2 Iowa Prison Staff in Escape Attempt

Flags are flown at half staff in memory of the two prison workers killed in an escape attempt at the Anamosa State Penitentiary in Anamosa, Iowa, on March 24, 2021. Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette via AP

IOWA CITY, Iowa—Inmates used hammers to attack staff members during a failed attempt to escape an Iowa prison, killing a nurse and a correctional officer, kidnapping a third employee and severely injuring an inmate who intervened, authorities said Wednesday.

Those killed in Tuesday’s attack at the Anamosa State Penitentiary were identified as 50-year-old nurse Lorena Schulte, of Cedar Rapids, and 46-year-old Officer Robert McFarland, of Ely. Both worked at the prison in Anamosa in eastern Iowa for more than a decade.