An inmate suffered multiple lacerations after three other men attacked him inside Five Points Correctional Facility in Romulus, leaving him with cuts across his cheek, nose, chin, forearm, neck and ear. The assault unfolded on November 3 inside the prison's Residential Rehabilitation Unit. Officers later found a crude paper gun in a cell search, and one of the inmates handed over a razor.
According to CNY Central, an officer monitoring programming in the unit watched one inmate walk up to another and punch him in the head, the first blow in what quickly became a group assault. Two more inmates jumped into the fight soon after — one kicked the victim in the upper body while the other made stabbing motions toward him, per the outlet's reporting, which cited the correction officers union. Officers moved in and pulled the men apart before the injured inmate was treated for his wounds.
Search Turns Up a Fake Firearm and a Razor
In the aftermath, a search of a cell shared by two of the inmates involved turned up a roughly 9-by-12-inch object fashioned from paper, complete with a mock magazine and an attached light pointer made to resemble a real firearm. The union told the station the device was not actually capable of firing, even though it had been built to look like one. One of the inmates involved later handed over a black ceramic razor that investigators believe was used during the attack.
Both inmates tied to the cell search were placed in the facility's Special Housing Unit. The paper firearm was found in the cell, while one inmate later handed over the razor.
How This Fits Into a Mixed Statewide Picture
The incident arrives against a backdrop of statewide numbers moving in opposite directions depending on the year examined. The Correctional Association of New York reported a 9% overall drop in unusual incidents across the state's prisons in 2025, alongside a 10% decrease in assaults — including an 11% drop in assaults on incarcerated people — and a 17% decrease in weapons-contraband incidents.
That more recent downward trend stands in contrast to a separate, lower-confidence figure from a state report: a Department of Corrections and Community Supervision document shows unusual incidents statewide rose 16% between 2023 and 2024, climbing from 16,153 to 18,740, though the report itself cautions that earlier versions excluded certain facilities, which may affect historical comparisons. The available evidence does not clarify whether the two datasets use comparable methods or definitions.
Five Points Has Seen Other Recent Violence
This was not the only violent episode reported at Five Points in recent months. A fight in the prison's mess hall during dinner on August 28 left one sergeant and five officers injured, according to FingerLakes1.com, which reported that a plastic shank was later found hidden under a trash can in the aftermath. The same outlet reported that six weapons were recovered from hiding spots like mattresses and clothing in recent weeks, and that six separate inmate fights left people with slash-like injuries.
Taken together, the reporting describes a facility that has dealt with repeated violent incidents recently, even as statewide figures for 2025 point toward fewer assaults and less weapons contraband overall. The evidence does not establish whether the pattern at Five Points reflects a broader trend at the facility or a cluster of unrelated incidents.
