Inmates at a St. Louis jail riot over a variety of issues Saturday morning, starting fires and throwing debris into the street below, while correction officers worked nearly eight hours to put an end to the “extremely violent.” group.
The riot at the St. Louis City Justice Center ended shortly before 10 AM, but only after the inmates spent hours throwing exercise bikes, chairs, mattresses, and other things into the streets below, burning some objects.
Dozens of people gathered to watch the uproar and attempts to contain it. Flames could also be seen just inside the windows.
“Even though our automated PA system would indicate that the cells are locked, they are in fact unlocked and so other inmates could get out of their cells and into the unit,” said Jimmie Edwards, St. Louis director of public security. , to KDSK.
Correction officials used tear gas to regain control and re-detained all 115 prisoners involved in the riot.
The inmates claimed they were fed up with the conditions during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as a series of restrictions that limited visits and brought court proceedings to a halt, officials said.
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Dozens of inmates had already been transferred from the City Justice Center after two disturbances in late December and early January, making this the third such unrest in a very short time.
“There are some burn marks on the front of the building. They destroyed the inside of their floor and threw all kinds of things out. … They flooded the floors, clogged the toilets, clogged the drains, so there is water damage, ”said Jacob Long, a spokesman for Mayor Lyda Krewson.
The riot started around 2:30 a.m. after an inmate and a guard were shaken and the guard jumped by other inmates, St. Louis Today reported.
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Jimmie Edwards, the town’s director of public safety, told reporters that the correction officer had been injured and taken to a hospital. That guard suffered bruises and contusions and was released later that day.
No other officer or prisoner was reportedly injured.
The correction facility is located on the fourth floor of the Justice Center, with only glass windows facing the city street and no fencing or additional barriers around the building.
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Fox News has contacted the St. Louis City Justice Center and the St. Louis Police Department for comment, which is pending.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.