7 inmates dead, 17 injured in South Carolina prison riot
Lee Correctional Institution/South Carolina Department of Corrections website
Seven inmates have died and 17 others have been injured in a riot that lasted more than seven hours at a maximum security prison in South Carolina.
Most of the inmates killed at the Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, northeast of Columbia, had been stabbed or slashed, according to Lee County Coroner Larry Logan. Among the publications with coverage are the Associated Press, the Post and Courier, the State, USA Today and the New York Times.
The fighting started at about 7:15 p.m. Sunday, and it wasn’t contained until shortly before 3 a.m. Monday. No staff members were killed or harmed.
The Post and Courier reported in 2016 that prisons in South Carolina were dealing with low morale and staffing shortages. Staff turnover is high because of low pay, long hours, poor management and safety concerns, according to former corrections officers who spoke with the Post and Courier.
The article reported that “dire” staffing shortages plague many of the country’s prisons.
The Lee Correctional Institute has a history of violence. Two correctional officers were stabbed in 2015. Last year an inmate was killed in July and another was killed in November. Another inmate was killed in February.
