Official announcements from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction

Ohio Corrections Officer Andrew Lansing Killed by Inmate Rashawn Cannon at Ross Correctional Institution in Chillicothe on Christmas Day

Dec 26, 2024, 05:15 PM

A corrections officer, Andrew Lansing, aged 62, was killed by an inmate at the Ross Correctional Institution in Chillicothe, Ohio, on Christmas Day. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction confirmed that Officer Lansing died following an assault by an inmate, Rashawn Cannon, who has been transferred to the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. Cannon, from Lima, Ohio, was serving an 8-year sentence for felonious assault and having weapons under disability. The incident has been described as a 'tragedy beyond comprehension' by Annette Chambers-Smith, the department's director. Governor Mike DeWine ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff in honor of Lansing, who was the first Ohio prison employee to be fatally attacked in decades. The Ohio State Highway Patrol is investigating the incident, and the prison is currently under restricted movement. Officer Lansing, a military veteran who had served in Iraq, was remembered as a respected and professional officer who treated everyone with respect, leaving behind his family who mourn his loss.