A fight among
about 200 black and Hispanic inmates at an Arizona prison complex left two or
three corrections officers and 11 inmates injured, officials said Friday.
The brawl broke
out at about 5:30 p.m. Thursday in a recreation yard at the Tucson prison's
Santa Rita unit, Arizona Department of Corrections spokesman Bill Lamoreaux
said. It was broken up by a prison tactical force using pepper spray and what
Lamoreaux called "minimal force" within a half-hour.
It wasn't clear
what started the fight or if racial tensions were part of the cause, although it
involved those of different ethnic backgrounds.
One of the
inmates was in a critical condition Friday, University of Arizona Medical Center
spokeswoman Darci Slaten said, and two others were in the intensive care
unit.
The hospital
treated and released three prison guards, Slaten said. Lamoreaux said he knew of
only two injured officers, plus 11 inmates.
The prison has
5,150 beds - nearly all of which were occupied Thursday. The unit where the
fight broke out housed 727 inmates.
The facility
will be on lockdown for several days and no inmate visits will be allowed.
The fight came a
day after a riot at a California prison holding many of the state's most
hardened criminals left 13 inmates wounded, including one who was shot by
correctional officers. That disturbance was inside a yard at the California
State Prison, Sacramento in Folsom. The prison is commonly known as New Folsom
because it is close to the better-known Folsom State Prison. The Washington
Post
AN/SM
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