CORCORAN — Authorities are investigating an 80-inmate riot that broke out at California State Prison Corcoran on Monday night.
The violence erupted at 8:21 p.m. on the facility’s level one yard for minimum security inmates. Wielding manufactured weapons, the convicts assaulted each other until staff members hit them with pepper spray and blast grenades, officials said.
Five inmates were injured during the melee, public information officer Theresa Cisneros said, and were taken to local hospitals for treatment. They have since been returned to the facility.
No injuries were reported among the staff.
Minimum-security inmates have been placed on a modified program, or lockdown, since the attack occurred. The prison’s Investigative Services Unit is still trying to determine the cause of the violence.
The last prison riot to hit Kings County happened in early January at Corcoran’s Substance Abuse Treatment Facility. Around 60 inmates were involved in that incident.
Both facilities have seen their fair share of inmate-related violence this year. Four inmates have been murdered at Corcoran SATF in the last seven months and another was killed at Corcoran State Prison in July.
Last week, another inmate at SATF made headlines when he assaulted a nurse with his handcuff chain and tried to strangle her to death.
Monday’s riot remains under active investigation.
