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Sharon Lauchaire, spokeswomen for the Juvenile Justice Commission, downplayed the incident, but said she wasn’t privy to all of the details.
"It’s a fight," Lauchaire said. "It’s not a riot."
Lauchaire saidthe incident began around 6 p.m. and she did confirm that several officers were injured. She wasn’t sure however of the exact number or the extent of the injuries, but believed they were not serious.
She said she also believed that five inmates, or "residents," at the facility were involved in the fights, though none were taken to the hospital.
Lauchaire said the facility was made safe last night for guards and inmates by the issuance of the lock-down, which will remain in effect as the incident is investigated today.
But our anonymous source said he didn’t feel the facility was safe for him or his fellow workers before last night’s incident or after it.
A number of workers in the juvenile corrections system have complained recently of unsafe conditions inside the facilities due to lax disciplinary tactics taken against unruly inmates.
The source said that the inmate initially involved in the last night’s altercation, was also responsible for recently assaulting a female guard.
He also claims that the guard assaulted yesterday by that same inmate, recently filed an internal complaint against him, and that claim had been thrown out.
"This is the same inmate that we knew was combative," the source said. "This officer felt threatened by this inmate, wrote a charge, a threatening charge on him, they found the inmate not guilty, and then he went and did this, and beat this officer."
Lauchaire however, said she couldn’t confirm any of the specifics of the inmate’s case or the cause of yesterday’s fights.
She said the inquiry into the incident would continue today, and will be carried out internally by the commission’s Office of Investigations.
