Man convicted in knife attack on children dies in prison

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – A man convicted in a knife attack on Anchorage elementary school children in 2001 has died in prison.

The Alaska Department of Corrections says 51-year-old Jason Pritchard was found unresponsive in his cell at the Anchorage Correctional Complex on Friday morning.

The department says officers and medical staff performed life-saving measures before emergency responders arrived. Pritchard was later pronounced dead.

The department says foul play is not suspected. It says prisoner deaths are reviewed by Alaska State Troopers and the state medical examiner’s office.

The Anchorage Daily News reports Pritchard was serving a 99-year sentence and had been in custody since May 2001.

He was convicted on two counts of first-degree attempted murder following a knife attack on students that left four boys seriously injured.