Sergeant Meggan Lee Callahan

Meggan Lee Callahan

Sergeant Meggan Callahan was killed after being assaulted at the Bertie Correctional Institution at approximately 5:30 p.m.

An inmate serving a life sentence for murder initially set a fire inside the prison. Sergeant Callahan responded with two other offices. She was using a fire extinguisher to put out the fire when she was attacked by the inmate who set the fire. He gained control of the fire extinguisher and struck Sergeant Callahan in the head with it, seriously injuring her.

Medical staff at the prison and other first responders provided medical aid but she succumbed to her injuries approximately one hour after the attack.

The inmate, 35, was serving a life sentence for the murder of a man in Cumberland County in 2000. He killed the man with a shotgun blast while burglarizing his home.

Sergeant Callahan had served with the North Carolina Department of Public Safety for five years.