Two inmates dead, others injured after ‘operational error’ sparks gang riots at Oklahoma prison

According to prison authorities, two inmates are dead and several others injured after a “group altercation” at a privately run prison in southern Oklahoma.

The incident occurred Friday at the Lawton Correctional and Rehabilitation Facility and is currently being investigated by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, according to a statement from Kay Thompson, the department’s director of public information.

Thompson said in an email to CNN on Saturday that the incident occurred because an “operational error” “caused the disruption.” She said the disruption was related to “security threat groups,” which Thompson said is another term for gangs.

For this reason, the facility is closed and all visits over the weekend are cancelled.

A spokesman for GEO Group, a security company that operates prisons and detention centers on behalf of government agencies, told CNN that the deaths and injuries were the result of “an attack by one inmate on another.”

Thompson did not name the two patients who died in his statement. In addition to the two dead, two inmates were seriously injured. One was taken to the hospital by medical helicopter, the other by vehicle. Many others were treated for minor injuries at the facility, but the exact number is unknown, according to Thompson. One officer also suffered minor injuries, according to The GEO Group.

When asked what was meant by “operational error,” Thompson told CNN: “The cause is still under investigation. We will release this information once the investigation is complete.”

“Although LCRF is a privately run prison, our operations team is working closely with GEO Group to understand how this happened and what remedial actions need to be taken,” Thompson said.

The GEO Group stated: “The health and safety of everyone in our care has always been our top priority and we have zero tolerance for acts of violence.”

Lawton is located about 86 miles southwest of Oklahoma City. The Lawton Correctional and Rehabilitation Facility has been in operation since 1998 and has a capacity of 2,682 inmates, according to The GEO Group.

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