7 inmates killed, 17 injured in fights that lasted 8 hours at South Carolina prison
By Holly Yan and Chuck Johnston
CNN
April 16, 2018
Seven inmates were killed and 17 others were injured overnight at a South Carolina prison -- the fourth deadly incident at the facility in the past year.
No officers were injured in the latest fracas at Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, said Jeffrey Taillon, spokesman for the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
The incident started at 7:15 p.m. ET Sunday and involved "multiple inmate altercations in three housing units," Taillon said. The facility was secured at 2:55 a.m. ET Monday.
No other details were given about what led to the fights.
Lee Correctional Institution, a maximum-security prison for men, has been the site of several other violent and deadly outbreaks this past year, CNN affiliate WACH reported.
Last month, inmates reportedly overpowered an officer for more than an hour and took control of one side of a housing unit.
In February, inmate Robert Odell Brown was killed by another inmate at Lee Correctional Institution.
Last November, another dispute between two prisoners led to the stabbing death of inmate Larry Rainey.
And last July, inmate Christian D. Ray died from injuries suffered during a fight.
Lee Correctional Institution has a capacity of about 1,650 inmates.
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PRISONS WILL CONTINUE TO BE UNPLEASANT PLACES UNTIL WE START LOCKING UP A BETTER CLASS OF PEOPLE
by Bob Walsh
The boys who are guests of the state at the Lee Correctional Institution in South Caroline were being a bit demonstrative yesterday, leaving seven of their own dead and 17 more with significant injuries during a riot that went on for seven hours on Sunday.
The staff regained control of the maximum security facility about 3 a.m. on Monday.
Prisoners used contraband cell phones to contact media on the outside during the riot.
There have been 20 prisoners murdered in S. C. facilities in the last 20 months. According to inmate accounts the Lee facility was pretty well fucked up. Among other basic security problems they assert that many of the cell doors did not lock, leaving the high risk inmates to wander around the facility at will.
The facility has staffing issues, as do pretty much all of those in S.C. The inmates complained that staff response was way too long in coming. One would expect that. Inmates complain about EVERYTHING. That doesn't mean that they are wrong.
Trouble is you need a major staff presence to take back three housing units once you have lost control. If they are that short staffed it might have taken a while to put the staff together and put a plan together. That being said the thing started prior to 8 p.m. so you would hope they would have a decent level of staff on hand.
1 comment:
Until correction officers are paid a living wage and benefits this will continue to happen. Citizens want criminals locked up, but they don't want to pay for it.
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