Located in the Elizabeth City, North Carolina, the prisoners set fire to the prison's sewing plant to distract prison guards on the scene. The incident was first reported at around 3:30 p.m. when an alert was sent out via the state's public safety Twitter account.
The public safety page has since indicated the facility is under lockdown and that the situation is under control. Fires previously set have been extinguished.
— NC Public Safety (@NCPublicSafety) October 12, 2017
One officer was reportedly struck with a hammer, while three others were sent to a nearby hospital. Of the three, one is said to be an unresponsive female officer and the two others are males between 40 and 50 years of age. Officials later confirmed to local media that at least six people were sent to the Sentara Albemarle Medical Center in Elizabeth City.
"It was chaos here," the Virginian-Pilot cited Randy Cartwright, Pasquotank County Sheriff, saying. "We're just getting things under control."
In response to the incident, three nearby schools, Northside Elementary, Elizabeth City Middle School and Pasquotank County High School, have been placed on lockdown per instruction from Emergency Management.
The prison is an all-male institution with 729 inmates.
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) October 12, 2017
Speaking to reporters, an official with the Pasquotank County Sheriff's Officer said "all we know is there were multiple people injured," Newsweek reported.
According to Heavy, the prison previously made headlines back in February and April this year. In February an inmate was caught with marijuana while in April a prisoner was stabbed multiple times — he did survive his injuries.
