By Alex Riggins
The San Diego Union-Tribune
OTAY MESA, Calif. — Two inmates were stabbed during a riot that correctional officers used pepper spray to break up Monday morning in a maximum-security yard at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility east of Otay Mesa, prison officials said.
About two dozen inmates began fighting around 10:45 a.m. at the state prison’s Facility C yard, according to Lt. Jennifer Davies of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Facility C houses maximum-security inmates, Davies said. Minimum- and medium-security inmates are also imprisoned at the facility that houses about 3,900 inmates and employs more than 1,940 staff members.
“Multiple orders to stop fighting were given to the inmates by correctional staff. When they did not comply, staff used pepper spray to quell the incident,” Davies said in a statement. “The riot was quickly quelled, and no staff members were injured.”
Medics took the two wounded inmates to outside hospitals for further evaluation and treatment, Davies said. No further information was immediately available about the identities of those inmates or the severity of their injuries.
Investigators discovered five “inmate-manufactured weapons” — commonly known as “shanks” — after the prisoners involved in the riot were cleared from the yard, according to Davies.
“Inmate movement on Facility C has been limited to facilitate the investigation into the cause of the riot,” Davies said.
The prison’s Investigative Services Unit is probing the incident, including what initially prompted the violence Davies said.