SHIRLEY, Mass. (AP) — Corrections officers have regained control of a maximum-security prison unit in Massachusetts but say there’s extensive damage after a group of inmates refused to return to their cells.
Officials declared a disturbance at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center at 3:50 p.m. Monday and regained control around 7 p.m.
State Department of Correction spokesman Christopher Fallon says officials are now assessing the damage, including to an officers’ station. He says it wasn’t a planned protest.
The maximum-security prison in the town of Shirley houses about 1,100 inmates. The disorder affected a unit with about 50 inmates but Fallon says it wasn’t immediately clear how many were involved.
State Police spokesman David Procopio says troopers were on standby outside the building but didn’t enter as corrections officers used de-escalation methods.
(Copyright (c) 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)