4 Killed in 'Disturbance' at Private Prison

All prisons in Oklahoma now on lockdown
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 14, 2015 1:00 AM CDT
4 Killed in 'Disturbance' at Private Prison
Men wait outside the Cimarron Correctional Facility in Cushing, Okla.   (David McDaniel/The Oklahoman via AP, File)

A spasm of violence at a private prison in Oklahoma lasted just a couple of minutes, but it killed four inmates and injured several others, officials say. The Oklahoma Department of Corrections describes the Saturday afternoon incident at the Cimarron Correctional Facility as a "disturbance" and says staff members in the area responded very quickly, NBC News reports. Officials say the incident, which happened as medium-security inmates were being let out to the exercise yard, left three men dead from stab wounds on Saturday and a fourth man died from his wounds overnight, reports the AP, which notes that up to 300 inmates were involved in a massive brawl at the same facility in June.

It's not clear what sparked the violence at the prison operated by Corrections Corporation of America, which the Wall Street Journal notes is America's largest private prison operator. The 1,720-bed facility was locked down after the incident, and officials say that as a precaution, all other prisons in the state are also on lockdown, the AP reports. The AP also notes that with a homicide rate of 14 per 100,000 inmates, compared to an average of 4 per 100,000 nationwide, Oklahoma has the highest prison murder rate in the country. (More Oklahoma stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X