CDCR Investigating Deadly Force Incident at California State Prison, Sacramento

SACRAMENTO - The California State Prison, Sacramento (CSP-SAC) Investigative Services Unit, CDCR's Deadly Force investigation team, and the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office are investigating the death of an incarcerated person who died after a use of force incident.

On Friday, April 12, at 6:55 p.m., staff responded to a disturbance in a housing unit. Incarcerated person Christopher Leong charged and began to hit staff. Officers attempted to put him in physical restraints, and he continued to lash out and spit at officers. Eventually, officers used physical force to pin him to the ground.

Leong lost consciousness and stopped breathing. Medical aid was immediately provided, and paramedics were summoned. At 7:50 p.m. Folsom Fire Department Paramedic pronounced him deceased.

Ten staff members reported minor injuries as a result of the incident.

Officials have limited movement on the yard where the incident occurred to facilitate the investigation. The Office of the Inspector General was notified, and the Sacramento County Coroner will determine Leong's official causes of death.

CDCR also sent the Deadly Force Investigations Team (DFIT) to SAC to assist in the investigation. DFIT is a team of trained CDCR investigators that conducts criminal and administrative investigations into every use of deadly force. A deadly force review board will conduct a full and complete review of the incident as well.

Christopher Leong was admitted from Sacramento County on June 7, 2011. He was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for discharge of a firearm in an inhabited dwelling/vehicle/aircraft, and second-degree attempted murder with street gang act in commission of violent felony/ PC667.5(c).

Activated in 1986, CSP-SAC is a high-security prison in Folsom that houses about 1,650 incarcerated people and employs about 1,700 staff. The institution houses those serving long-term sentences, those requiring specialized mental health programming, and incarcerated people with high-risk medical concerns. The institution also provides work, career technical education, academic, self-help, art, religious and other rehabilitative programs.

Christopher Leong

For Immediate Release: April 16, 2024

Contact: CDCR Press Office: [email protected]

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