When two corrections officers were shot and killed aboard a Georgia prison bus in 2017, eight inmates say they became victims, too.
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The eight have sued the Georgia Department of Corrections and a slew of state prison officials, arguing that their civil rights were violated.
They claim that they were also injured during or after the June 13 fatal shootings of officers Curtis Billue and Christopher Monica.
The inmates also claim that they've suffered post-traumatic stress since the fatal shootings.
And their lawsuits say they were held in solitary confinement afterward, even though they'd done nothing wrong.
In fact, the inmates' blame the shootings on the Department of Corrections and their failure to follow procedures.
The inmates -- Timothy Dotson, Timothy Faison, James Geiger, Timothy Ghiden, Samuel Moss, J.D. Powell, Dennis Roberson and Christopher Trammell -- filed eight separate lawsuits in May and June in U.S. District Court in Macon. All eight are represented by Theodore Salter, a Kennesaw lawyer.
The shooting happened as Billue and Monica were transporting a busload of prisoners from Baldwin State Prison.
Prosecutors say inmate Ricky Dubose got through an unlocked door in the bus, grabbed a gun and shot both officers. Then he and inmate Donnie Rowe escaped.
The two men were caught two days later in Tennessee.
Now Dubose and Rowe both face murder charges and the death penalty.
But the inmates' lawsuit cites a Department of Corrections investigation says prison officials -- including Monica and Billue -- violated their own rules numerous times that day.
The lawsuit claims that Rowe and Dubose should not even have been on the bus, because they were violent offenders, and that the officers failed to double-lock the inmates restraints.
The state investigation also says Rowe used a toothbrush that he's smuggled onto the bus to open the bus gate, and that inmates said Monica may have been sleeping for part of the trip.
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Monica and Billue also left the prisoners unattended at least twice, when they left the bus to take on new inmates at other prisons. That allowed Rowe and Dubose to plan their escape, state investigators found.
The state report says, "the unlocked gate inside the bus, the handcuffs that were not double locked, Rowe's possession of the toothbrush, and the officers' failure to wear their firearms" created the opportunity for Rowe and Dubose.
The inmates argue that they've been injured, hurt and punished due to the state's own poor supervision and lax procedures. They also argue that the prison officials failed to provide proper medical care for their injuries.
Among the defendants are Gregory Dozier, commissioner of the corrections department, and he wardens of the Baldwin, Hancock and Jackson state prisons.
The inmates are asking for at least $250,000 apiece in damages.
13WMAZ asked Lori Benoit, spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Corrections, for a statement, but she declined to comment..