Disturbance Involving About 2,000 Inmates Reported at Texas Prison Facility
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Click Images/iStock/Thinkstock(RAYMONDSVILLE, Texas) — Inmates refused to participate in work duties and did not come out for breakfast on Friday morning, forcing a Texas facility into lockdown.
According to Management and Training Corporation, which runs the Willacy County Correctional Center, several inmates broke through the housing structures and made their way onto the recreation yard. Most recent estimates say about 2,000 inmates are involved in the disturbance. “Another 1,000 inmates, housed in a separate part of the facility, are not involved in the incident,” the company statement said.
The company says inmates claimed to be unhappy with the medical services they received and were “demonstrating to make their concerns known.”
On Friday, correctional officers used tear gas in an effort to control the unruly inmates after inmates set fires inside three of the ten housing units. The company said the damage to the buildings was minor.
MTC said Friday night that two officers and one inmate suffered minor injuries and were treated at the facility.
The facility is surrounded by two perimeter fences, and MTC notes that none of the inmates have attempted to climb those fences.
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