Hole prompts lockdown at prison

DEER LODGE, Mont. – An attempt by inmates to carve a hole through the double walls of a high-security housing unit prompted a lockdown at the Montana State Prison, officials said Thursday.

Correctional officers found the camouflaged hole while conducting a random search of the unit around noon Wednesday. A lockdown was ordered shortly after that, and remained in effect Thursday, Deputy Warden Ross Swanson said.

The hole was cut through a cinder block wall, but inmates did not breach an outer concrete wall, he said.

Had they made it outside, the inmates still would have been inside the prison’s double-fenced perimeter and bands of razor wire, Swanson said.

He declined to release further information, citing an ongoing investigation.

Inmate behavior, the progress of the investigation and inmate response to easing some lockdown restrictions will determine how much longer the prison is locked down, Swanson said.

Inmate phone privileges, which had been suspended, will be restored today. Visitation will resume Saturday, but only for low-security inmates.