Larry Nassar Stabbed in Prison: Attacker, Motive, and Response

Larry Nassar was stabbed in prison on July 9, 2023, at the United States Penitentiary Coleman II in Sumterville, Florida, when a fellow inmate entered his cell and stabbed him at least ten times across his neck, chest, and back. He survived after being hospitalized with a collapsed lung and was reported in stable condition the following morning.¹²

What Happened Inside the Cell

The attack began at roughly 2:35 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon at Coleman II, a high-security federal facility. According to the Associated Press and other outlets, the assailant used what the Bureau of Prisons calls a “manufactured weapon,” the term used inside federal prisons for an improvised knife. Nassar was stabbed at least ten times. The collapsed lung required immediate life-saving measures and transport to a hospital.¹³

The stabbing itself happened out of view. Coleman II’s surveillance cameras cover common areas and corridors, not the interiors of cells, so the Bureau of Prisons classifies what happened as an “unwitnessed event.” Investigators said other cameras may have captured the assailant entering and leaving. Four other inmates reportedly intervened to stop the attack.⁴⁵

By the next morning, two sources familiar with the situation told reporters that Nassar was stable.²⁶⁷

Who Attacked Him

The inmate identified as the attacker was Shane McMillan, a 49-year-old federal prisoner with a long history of violence in custody. McMillan had been incarcerated since 2002, when he pleaded guilty in Wyoming to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and received a sentence of more than 20 years.⁵

His time inside got worse from there. In 2006, at the U.S. Penitentiary in Pollock, Louisiana, he punched a correctional officer in the face and picked up an additional five years. In 2011, at the federal supermax facility in Florence, Colorado, McMillan and another inmate stabbed a fellow prisoner 66 times, adding another 20 years to his sentence. Before the attack on Nassar, he was not scheduled for release until May 2046.⁵

As of the latest available reporting, McMillan had not been formally charged for the stabbing, and the investigation was described as ongoing. His release date could shift if charges are brought and a conviction follows.⁸

The Reported Motive

According to an AP source, McMillan told prison workers that Nassar provoked him by making a lewd remark while the two were watching a women’s Wimbledon tennis match on television. Nassar allegedly said he wished there were girls playing. McMillan attacked him shortly afterward.⁸²

That account comes from the attacker, relayed by a source familiar with what he told staff. It has not been independently corroborated in the reporting available, and no separate account from Nassar or from prison officials confirming the exchange has been published.⁵

Why the Attack Was Possible

Coleman II was badly understaffed on the day Nassar was stabbed. Records obtained by the Associated Press showed that nearly a quarter of the facility’s correctional officer positions were vacant, with only 169 officers filling 222 authorized slots. That Sunday, 44 posts went entirely unassigned. The two officers responsible for Nassar’s housing unit were both working mandated overtime shifts to compensate for the shortage.⁴

The pattern is broader than one facility. The Bureau of Prisons has been operating with nearly 6,000 fewer staff than authorized across its 122 institutions, and the Government Accountability Office added the agency to its “high-risk list” in January 2025 because of staffing challenges and deteriorating infrastructure.⁹

This was not Nassar’s first assault in federal custody either. Reporting indicated that he was previously attacked in May 2018, shortly after being placed in general population at a federal penitentiary in Arizona.¹⁰

How Survivors Responded

Survivors’ reactions were strikingly uniform. Several said the news re-triggered trauma and flashbacks rather than providing any sense of justice, and none of the survivors quoted in the reporting endorsed the violence.

Ashley Erickson said she was not happy about the attack and that violence should not be part of Nassar’s punishment. “I just want it for him to pay for his time for all the stuff that he did to us,” she told a Michigan news outlet. Another survivor, Emily Meinke, said Nassar “wasn’t sentenced to be stabbed or harmed.”¹¹

Sarah Klein, a sexual abuse attorney and survivor, issued a statement saying the assault “brings no peace to me personally” and that it “forces us to vividly relive our abuse and trauma.” She urged the Bureau of Prisons and the Department of Justice to keep Nassar alive and in custody for the full duration of his sentence, calling death “an easy out.” Rachael Denhollander, the first woman to publicly accuse Nassar of abuse, wrote that she was “holding both” justice and forgiveness that day.¹²

Judge Rosemarie Aquilina, who told Nassar “I just signed your death warrant” during his 2018 sentencing, clarified that she had never wanted him dead. “It wasn’t that I wanted him dead, it was I wanted the girls to know that they were safe,” she said, calling the stabbing “unacceptable.”¹¹

1
BBC News. Larry Nassar Stabbed at Least 10 Times
2
ABC News. Larry Nassar Stabbed in Prison After Comment Allegedly Made
3
NPR. Larry Nassar Stabbed in Florida Prison
4
NY1/AP. Larry Nassar Was Stabbed in Prison Cell Attack Not Seen by Surveillance Cameras
5
CBS News. Suspect in Larry Nassar Stabbing Said Ex-Doctor Made Lewd Remark Watching Wimbledon
6
PBS NewsHour. Judge Sentences Larry Nassar to 40 to 175 Years
7
CNN. Larry Nassar Sentenced to 40 to 125 Years in Eaton County
8
WBAL-TV. Suspect in Larry Nassar Stabbing Identified
9
U.S. Congress. Federal Corrections in Focus: Oversight of the Bureau of Prisons
10
Denver Post. High-Profile Attacks on Derek Chauvin and Larry Nassar Put Spotlight on Violence in Federal Prisons
11
WILX. Sister Survivors Speak Out About Larry Nassar Stabbing
12
CBS Austin. First Woman to Publicly Accuse Larry Nassar Reacts to Reports of Stabbing