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4 officers, 15 inmates injured in Arizona prison disturbance

Posted at 12:42 AM, Aug 28, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-28 14:34:13-04

A disturbance at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Douglas, Arizona on Sunday night left 15 inmates seriously injured, and four corrections officers were treated after being assaulted.

The 15 inmates were all taken to a hospital, according to Andrew Wilder from the Arizona Department of Corrections.

The officers were assaulted while trying to calm down the inmates. Officials from ADC say inmate on inmate groupings escalated into a fight in the Mohave unit, which is a medium custody unit with 940 beds.

Those inmates are not locked in cells and have free access to the yard during the day.

The unit was locked down, and tactical support units were called in to put an end to the disturbance. According to ADC officials, it took one hour to get the inmates to comply.

According to ADC, the Douglas prison warden says it is possible that inmates were on the roof, but there were no perimeter breaches.

There were at least nine ambulances at the scene, as well as several life-line helicopters that were called to the main gate area of the prison.

The Cochise County Sheriff's Office, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Douglas Police Department and border patrol agents were called to the scene to secure the perimeter but did not need to go inside.