Inmate Stabbed 30 Times in Jail’s Interview Room

An inmate was attacked and stabbed 30 times by two other prisoners in the attorney interview room at the County Jail in downtown Los Angeles before could break up the fight, authorities said Wednesday. Salvador Buenrostro, 45, was in serious condition in the intensive care unit at County-USC Medical Center.

Buenrostro and the two other prisoners, Rene Enriquez, 27, and Benjamin Peters, 49, were waiting to speak with their lawyers at the Men’s Central Jail about 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sheriff’s Deputy Roger Hom said. “For an unknown reason,” he said, Peters attacked Buenrostro with a razor blade and Enriquez then joined in, stabbing Buenrostro with a jail-made knife.

Several deputies pulled the men apart and stopped the attack. A dozen attorneys and several other inmates were in the interview room but were not hurt, the sheriff’s spokesman said.