Ironwood prison riot numbers increase
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California prison officials on Tuesday said a weekend riot at a Blythe prison was much larger than previously reported, involving more than 460 inmates and sending seven of them to the hospital.
The disturbance Saturday at Ironwood State Prison began in an exercise yard and spread to day rooms in two housing units of the medium-security prison. An official initially said the fight broke out between some 100 black and Latino inmates.
The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said guards were brought in from the adjacent Chuckawala Valley State Prison. Guards responded with batons, direct impact rounds and pepper spray. One warning shot was fired to quell the disturbance. Three inmates remained hospitalized Tuesday, including one with stab wounds. The entire prison is currently on ‘restricted movement.’ It is designed to hold 2,200 inmates, but according to the state’s latest population report, it houses 3,529 prisoners.
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--Paige St. John in Sacramento
