NC correctional officer charged with stabbing colleague

A correctional officer at a state prison in Northampton County was charged Tuesday with stabbing another officer during a dispute off prison grounds, authorities said.

Posted 9:33 p.m. Apr 30, 2013 — Updated 9:34 p.m. Apr 30, 2013

JACKSON, N.C. — A correctional officer at a state prison in Northampton County was charged Tuesday with stabbing another officer during a dispute off prison grounds, authorities said.

James Bell, 44, of North Church Street in Jackson, has been charged with attempted first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury. He was being held in the Northampton County jail under a $275,000 bond.

Authorities said Bell and Ronald Vaughan, who both work at Odom Correctional Institute, got into a dispute over Bell's paperwork. After getting off work Tuesday morning, they met up at a nearby convenience store, where their argument escalated into a physical confrontation, authorities said.

Vaughan, 47, was taken to Vidant Medical Center in Greenville for surgery, but his condition wasn't known.

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