arriana
05-15-2004, 07:31 PM
Prison Brawl in Watonga Injures More Than 40 Inmates
One Inmate Listed In Critical Condition
POSTED: 4:51 pm CDT May 15, 2004
Associated Press
ChannelOklahoma.com, OK
http://www.channeloklahoma.com/news/3309693/detail.html
WATONGA, Okla. -- Two prisoners were seriously injured and 40 others
were hurt after a brawl broke out in a recreation yard of a private
prison Friday night.
The prison remained on lock-down Saturday as officials at the
Diamondback Correctional Facility investigated the incident.
The fight started at about 8:15 p.m. Friday among inmates from
Arizona, according to a statement from the Corrections Corporation of
America, which operates the medium-security prison.
Two inmates were flown to an Oklahoma City hospital for treatment
Friday night. One inmate was listed in stable condition, the other
was listed in critical condition Saturday, said Louise Chickering, a
representative for the company.
The prisoners' names or the extent of their injuries were not
immediately released.
Officials from Arizona had arrived at the facility Saturday afternoon
to aid in the investigation.
"Our investigation is going to be ongoing for the next several days,"
Chickering said. "We are currently interviewing all inmates that were
out in the recreation yard at the time, and that's a long process."
Chickering said a couple hundred inmates were using the recreational
yard when the fight broke out.
She could not say what caused the fight, but said investigators were
trying to determine whether it was gang-related.
"We do not know who the primary agitators were," Chickering said.
The Diamondback Correctional Facility houses about 2,050 prisoners
from Arizona and Hawaii. Arizona inmates account for 1,199 of the
inmates.
No Hawaii prisoners were involved in the fight. No Oklahoma inmates
are housed at the facility located about 65 miles northwest of
Oklahoma City.
One Inmate Listed In Critical Condition
POSTED: 4:51 pm CDT May 15, 2004
Associated Press
ChannelOklahoma.com, OK
http://www.channeloklahoma.com/news/3309693/detail.html
WATONGA, Okla. -- Two prisoners were seriously injured and 40 others
were hurt after a brawl broke out in a recreation yard of a private
prison Friday night.
The prison remained on lock-down Saturday as officials at the
Diamondback Correctional Facility investigated the incident.
The fight started at about 8:15 p.m. Friday among inmates from
Arizona, according to a statement from the Corrections Corporation of
America, which operates the medium-security prison.
Two inmates were flown to an Oklahoma City hospital for treatment
Friday night. One inmate was listed in stable condition, the other
was listed in critical condition Saturday, said Louise Chickering, a
representative for the company.
The prisoners' names or the extent of their injuries were not
immediately released.
Officials from Arizona had arrived at the facility Saturday afternoon
to aid in the investigation.
"Our investigation is going to be ongoing for the next several days,"
Chickering said. "We are currently interviewing all inmates that were
out in the recreation yard at the time, and that's a long process."
Chickering said a couple hundred inmates were using the recreational
yard when the fight broke out.
She could not say what caused the fight, but said investigators were
trying to determine whether it was gang-related.
"We do not know who the primary agitators were," Chickering said.
The Diamondback Correctional Facility houses about 2,050 prisoners
from Arizona and Hawaii. Arizona inmates account for 1,199 of the
inmates.
No Hawaii prisoners were involved in the fight. No Oklahoma inmates
are housed at the facility located about 65 miles northwest of
Oklahoma City.