Guard at Polish prison opens fire on police, 3 officers dead

A guard at a Polish prison opened fire on police Monday, leaving three officers dead and seriously injuring a prisoner, officials said.

The police officers had arrived at the facility in Sieradz in central Poland to take away an inmate.

As they were leaving, a 28-year-old guard fired at their car from a watchtower, killing two officers immediately and seriously injuring one officer and the prisoner, said Magdalena Zielinska, a spokeswoman for regional police.

The injured men were hospitalized, and the third police officer later died as a result of wounds to his chest and abdomen, said Miroslawa Kraszewska, another police spokeswoman, reports AP.

Police managed to overpower the guard following a brief exchange of fire that also left him injured in the arm. The injured prisoner was kept in a hospital.

Interior Minister Janusz Kaczmarek said reports indicated that the prison guard had family problems.