Arizona prison placed on lockdown after inmates brawl
Aug 28, 2017, 8:36 AM | Updated: 4:16 pm
(Arizona Department of Corrections Photo)
(Arizona Department of Corrections Photo)
PHOENIX — State authorities said a portion of an Arizona prison was on lockdown Monday after 17 inmates and six corrections officers were injured during an hourlong disturbance.
Arizona Corrections Department spokesman Andrew Wilder said visits were canceled at the Douglas prison complex’s Mohave Unit for the time being. The medium-security facility houses 950.
Inmate accessibility had also been limited afterward. Usually, the inmates are not locked in their cells and the can go to the yard all daylong.
The most seriously wounded prisoner was airlifted to a hospital for treatment of head injuries while the other injured inmates were taken to hospitals by ground ambulances and helicopters for evaluation and treatment.
Wilder said 12 of the injured inmates were back at the prison by midday Monday.
According to initial inquiries, Wilder said the fracas broke out Sunday night when groups of Hispanic and white inmates began fighting in the unit’s yard. It was not immediately clear if the dispute was racially motivated.
The inmates in that unit are housed in dormitories rather than cells and under normal conditions are allowed free access to the yard into the evening, he said.
Some inmates managed to climb to the roof and were throwing rocks at approaching vehicles, the Douglas Police Department said.
Wilder said the fighting lasted about an hour before corrections officials brought the situation under control. “It was just between the inmates, no breach of the perimeter, no attempt to escape,” he said.
“The reasons behind the fighting remain under investigation,” said Wilder.
Some of the unit’s yard privileges will probably be suspended to some extent, with the inmates confined to housing at least initially and meals brought to them, said Wilder.
“It’s likely to be lockdown for them through the week, suspended programming” for things such as job training and substance abuse counseling and no visits by family and friends allowed, he said.
The Cochise County Sheriff’s Office said it was alerted to the riot before 8 p.m. Sunday and the U.S. Border Patrol and the Arizona Department of Public Safety were called in to help secure the area around the complex.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
