14 DAY TRIAL // The Arizona State Prison Complex in Tucson has been closed down since Sunday, March 3, following a massive melee that involved 400 prisoners.
The brawl broke out in the Whetstone Unit, that can house 1,250 inmates, writes ABC 15 Arizona. It was not filled at maximum capacity, with 1,242of them on site.
According to Department of Corrections spokesman Bill Lamoreaux, the inmates started fighting at approximately 9:45 a.m. on Sunday.
While at this point there is no news on why the riot started, the facility remains on lockdown until an investigation on the matter is completed. The 5,134 prisoners in the Tucson facility have been denied visitation on Sunday as a result.
Lamoreaux describes that 300 of the 400 inmates involved in the brawl are Caucasian and Mexican-American, and the other hundred are African-American inmates.
Two members of the prison staff have been injured during the brawl, suffering non-life threatening wounds.
Five inmates have been seriously injured and are being treated at clinics outside the jail. More participants in the melee have sustained minor injuries, writes Tucson Sentinel.
“Additional inmates are being assessed and treated on-site,” Lamoreaux says.
The Arizona Republic reported about a similar incident at the Tucson jail in September of last year. Two guards and 11 inmates were injured in a 200-person brawl at the State Prison Complex.
727 inmates were in the Santa Rita Unit at the time the fight broke out, while the facility is equipped with 768 beds.
The incident started in the courtyard, and was contained in half an hour. Tactical Support Unit teams were called in for the operation, swiftly regaining control of the yard.
While the officers and five prisoners suffered minor injuries, six other inmates were severely hurt and required hospitalization.