RIDGEVILLE -- A state prison near Ridgeville remained on lockdown Thursday after a disturbance in which at least two corrections officers were injured and authorities had to use tear gas to restore order.
Clark Newsom, a spokesman for the South Carolina Department of Corrections, said the disturbance broke out Wednesday evening when inmates in a section of the high security Lieber Correctional Institution overpowered two guards and took their keys and a radio.
The prison was put on lockdown and about 200 officers from the he Department of Corrections and 12 surrounding agencies responded. Many of those officers established a perimeter around the prison.
Newsom said at no time was the public in danger.
There were about 230 inmates in the dorm where the disturbance occurred, although Newsom said it’s not clear how many of those inmates were involved in the disturbance. The prison, located about 40 miles northwest of Charleston, has about 1,400 inmates.
Newsom said that two correctional officers were treated and released from a nearby hospital, one requiring stitches. Dorchester County medical officials had said three officers were transported.
Newsom said there were no immediate reports of any inmates being injured.
He said that during the disturbance, sprinkler system heads were ripped down and there was some other damage. He said that, as of late Thursday morning, there was still one inmate authorities were trying to convince to return where he belonged.
It’s not clear what caused the disturbance.
“We really don’t know. That’s something they’ll have to investigate,” Newsom said.
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