By Sarah Roebuck
Corrections1
LAWTON, Okla. — Two prisoners were killed and several others were hurt in a group disturbance at the Lawton Correctional and Rehabilitation Center on May 10, according to CNN.
The Oklahoma Department of Corrections said two identified security threat groups were ordered to be kept separate at all times. However, due to human error, a disturbance involving these two groups took place. All involved inmates complied and were restrained without any issues, ODOC said.
ODOC said two inmates suffered severe injuries, leading to their hospitalization, and two inmates were killed in the disturbance. One corrections officer received minor injuries during the incident.
Corrections Department Spokesperson Kay Thompson told CNN that the department’s operations team is collaborating with The Geo Group, a security firm that manages prisons and detention centers on behalf of governments, to determine the cause of the incident and the necessary corrective measures.
Thompson told The Oklahoman that violent incidents in state prisons have declined since October following the department’s revision of its misconduct policy and strategic decisions to house specific security threat groups together, thereby reducing gang-related violence.
For the safety and security of the facility, special management inmates must be segregated. In the video below, Gordon Graham details best practices for this process: