LOCKDOWN-St. Louis Prison

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Three officers hurt in St. Louis prison gang fight - The Morning Sun News: Serving Clare, Gratiot and Isabella counties

Three officers hurt in St. Louis prison gang fight

Tuesday, November 17, 2009 6:29 PM EST

Three corrections officers were hurt during a gang-related fight in the lunchroom at the St. Louis Correctional Facility around noon Tuesday.

Two of the officers were taken to Gratiot Medical Center in Alma. One was released in the afternoon, said Russ Marlin, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections.

There was no condition report on the other corrections officer, a woman, who still remained in the hospital, Warden Nick Ludwig said.

“I have not received any reports of inmates injured,” he said.

A total of 11 inmates are believed to have been involved in the fight, Marlin said. It appeared that opposing gangs were fighting, and that they then began assaulting the officers.

Knives of some type were used, Marlin said.

Ludwig said he didn’t know how long the incident lasted.

“If it lasts two minutes, it can seem like 20,” he said. “But I haven’t seen the video yet.”

Ludwig said inmates in one housing unit had been “acting a little chippy lately,” so prison officials had been particularly careful during meal times. Only smaller-than-normal groups had been permitted to eat at any one time.

Since so many inmates are present in the food service area, it always presents a risk.

At the time of the incident, only about 100 were in the lunchroom, an amount fewer than normal.

Ludwig said he is very proud of his staff and how they acted.

“Corrections officers in Michigan are without peer with respect to the amount of training they receive,” he said.

Incidents of these kinds are not about “if something happens” but “when,” he said.

Even so, he said, “We are judged by how well we respond and return to normalcy.”

The prison was put on lockdown as a search for weapons in all the housing units took place and an investigation was begun, Marlin said.

All 11 of the inmates believed to have been involved will be transferred out. Criminal charges may be brought against them.

“They are being transferred even as we speak,” Ludwig said late in the afternoon Tuesday. “There was a tremendous response from all the other wardens for the need of beds.”

Inmates involved in such a “major event” are generally split up and sent throughout the state corrections system. They will be sent to facilities that can accommodate their medical and security needs, he said.

They will not necessarily go to a higher security prison, but they will not be sent to a lower one.

As the St. Louis Correctional Facility remained in lockdown, it meant that no movement was allowed by the inmates, who remained locked in their housing units.

No visitation is allowed during that time, as well.

Food would be brought to the inmates, Marlin said, pointing out that the staff routinely prepares for such an eventuality.

The duration of the lockdown is solely determined by Ludwig, he said.

“I can definitely say that we will be in lockdown for at least the rest of the day,” he said.

The St. Louis Correctional Facility is a combined security level 3 and 4 prison. Under Michigan’s classification system, level 1 is minimum security and level 5 is maximum.

There are six general population housing units, each housing up to 192 prisoners in a double-bunked cell setting.

There is also one segregation unit that can house up to 96 prisoners.