[Imc-newsroom] prison riot story

[Danielle Chynoweth]

I won't be in town Sunday, but thought this was a good lead to follow up
on for a story or headline:

Thursday December 20 8:16 PM ET

     300 Inmates Riot at Calif. Prison

     By CHRISTINA ALMEIDA, Associated Press Writer

     LANCASTER, Calif. (AP) - More than 300 inmates rioted at a crowded
state prison
     Thursday, prompting a crackdown by guards using tear gas and wooden
bullets, authorities
     said. Five inmates were seriously injured.

     The fighting broke out in a recreation yard and was quelled after
about 15 minutes, said
     prison spokesman Ron Nipper.

     ``The inmates started to fight, and it just gained momentum,'' Nipper
said.

     Guards used pepper spray, tear gas and wooden bullets on the
prisoners before firing
     several warning shots, said Margot Bach, spokeswoman for the state
Department of
     Corrections. It was unclear whether any prisoners were hit. Bach said
26 homemade
     weapons were recovered.

     No guards or staff were hurt.

     Five inmates were taken to local hospitals, where they were in
critical condition with ``deep
     puncture wounds,'' Bach said. Twelve others were treated at the
prison infirmary for cuts.

     The prison is located in the Mojave Desert, about 40 miles north of
Los Angeles. It was put
     on lockdown Dec. 11, when a guard was beaten by four inmates,
department officials said.
     Inmates were just starting to get some of their privileges back
Thursday when the riot began.

     Nipper said inmates involved in the fighting could face criminal
charges.

     The prison was designed to hold 2,200 prisoners but currently has
more than 4,000 inmates
     in its minimum- and maximum-security wings. It was not immediately
clear whether
     crowding may have contributed to the rioting and Bach said it may
take several days to
     determine the exact cause.

     Last year, a racial brawl involving more than 120 inmates left 10
people injured. In 1999, an
     inmate was shot by guards during another brawl between whites and
Hispanics.

     Bach said race didn't appear to be behind Thursday's riot.

     ``It was multiracial. There wasn't any group attacking any other
groups specifically. They all
     got into it,'' she said.

     The 262-acre prison opened in 1993 and has more than 1,200 employees.

     -

     On the Net:

     Prison: http://www.cdc.state.ca.us/facility/instlac.htm