Inmates Locked Down After Courtyard Brawl

The Oregon State Penitentiary remained in lockdown Monday after a weekend prison-yard brawl that left two inmates with stab wounds.

Superintendent Joan Palmenteer, is looking into reports that a fight between two inmates earlier in the day precipitated the fight.

There were no signs that another fight would break out, she said.

The lockdown will continue at least until investigators determine what caused the brawl, she said.

Fifteen inmates, thought to be directly involved in the fight, remained in disciplinary segregation on Monday, spokeswoman Perrin Damon said.

More inmates are expected to be segregated after further interviews and viewing of videotape shot during the fight, she said.

The fight broke out between about 100 inmates at about 7 p.m. Saturday. Two inmates, whose names were not released Sunday, were stabbed. Both inmates were treated at the prison infirmary.

Corrections officers in five of the prison’s 11 towers fired 17 warning shots into predetermined areas away from the prisoners before all of the 800 to 1,000 inmates in the main yard complied with orders to sit on the ground, Damon said.

Damon declined to say whether racial tensions among inmates caused the fight, but she added that it is one of the several theories being investigated.