Two inmates killed in prison riot in Nebraska; inmate cites lack of access to jobs and prison yard
Two inmates were found dead in a housing unit after a day of rioting on Sunday at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution in Nebraska.
The identities of the victims had not been released as of Monday morning, report the Lincoln Journal Star, the Omaha World-Herald, 1011Now and KETV. All staffers have been accounted for; two were treated and released after they responded to a gathering in the prison yard at about 2:30 p.m. on Sunday and were assaulted by inmates.
Two prisoners were also taken to the hospital after they were injured in the prison yard disturbance. One was shot and the other was hurt by a rubber bullet. After the fight in the prison yard, disturbances broke out in two of the prison’s three housing units. The unit that houses death-row inmates was not among them.
The fire department responded to at least two fires, one in the prison yard and one in a housing unit, according to James Foster, a spokesperson with the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, who spoke with 1011Now.
Ronda Davis, the mother of 22-year-old prisoner Shaquille Renshaw, told the World-Herald that her son called her about 8 p.m. on Sunday and told her the inmates had taken over the prison. Other inmates shouting in the background told her to notify the news media.
Another inmate told the Journal Star in a phone call from an office that about 60 to 70 officers with automatic weapons and riot gear were standing outside a housing unit at about 11 p.m. Sunday, and he didn’t know when or whether they would move in. Yet another inmate, Daryl Eskridge, told the newspaper that the disturbance was linked to prison officials’ failure to address grievances. Prisoners wanted more access to the prison yard and jobs, he said.
“We understand this is a prison,” Eskridge told the Journal Star, “but we have been subjected to a lot of things the department doesn’t want people to see.”
Disturbances were also reported at the Nebraska State Penitentiary on Saturday, resulting in a prison lockdown.
Hat tip to the Marshall Project.
