We’ve already seen during this pandemic the extreme lengths that inmates will go to in order to flee prisons where Covid-19 is spreading like wildfire.
Certainly, Covid concerns may have been in the mind of inmates who participated in a violent riot last night at a prison in Georgia. The facility, which is suffering from mounting virus infections and recently saw one inmate stab another to death, was on Sunday still trying to recover from the serious disturbance that left at least five people injured.
Two staff members and three inmates at the facility were hurt during the disturbance that forced the facility into a lockdown, the state Department of Corrections said.
The injuries were not considered to be life-threatening, and the incident that began around 10:45 p.m. Saturday at Ware State Prison in Waycross was under control, department officials said in a statement Sunday.
According to the Georgia Department of Corrections, a golf cart was set on fire and several windows were smashed, but no major damage to the facility has been reported.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that two correctional workers were stabbed.
The department said officers “deployed non-lethal ammunition,” and the incident was brought under control. The facility was locked down at around 1 a.m. Sunday.
The cause of the disturbance is stil unknown.
Georgia State Patrol, the Ware County Sheriff’s Office and Waycross Police Department confirmed their agencies responded to an incident at the prison.
Ware County Sheriff Randy Royal was called at 11:07 p.m. Saturday to assist at the prison, according to the Waycross-Journal Herald.
“The situation is being resolved now,” Royal told the newspaper about 2:30 a.m. Sunday.
The reporter referenced several Facebook Live videos reportedly made by inmates, one showing a prisoner covered in blood.
A Ware State inmate was killed two weeks ago in what authorities said was an altercation with another inmate and the newspaper was told tensions were high in the prison due to COVID-19.
Department of Corrections data shows 22 inmates and 32 staff members at Ware State Prison have tested positive for the coronavirus. Of those, according to the Department of Corrections, five inmates and 12 staff members have recovered.