5-day lockdown lifted at Benner state prison after inmate fights
Benner state prison resumed normal operations Tuesday, though all visits remain canceled until Thursday, a prison public information officer said in an email.
The prison went into lockdown Friday after “multiple inmate fights” in the prison’s main yard, Holly Quist wrote. No staff or inmates were injured.
It was the prison’s first lockdown since March. It is not uncommon for facilities to be locked down several times per year, Quist wrote.
In March, inmate Derric Harsh Jr. was killed at the prison — his death was ruled a homicide, the first in the prison’s six-year history. Harsh’s family recently filed a federal civil rights lawsuit accusing prison officials of failing to protect him from a dangerous cellmate.
Bret Pallotto
Centre Daily Times