Dozens of inmates barricaded themselves in housing area at NC prison Sunday
Several dozen prisoners barricaded themselves in a housing area at Craven Correctional Institution on Sunday, according to a Department of Public Safety spokesman.
“This situation has been resolved. No force was used. No one was injured,” said spokesman John Bull.
The situation unfolded around 7 a.m. after about 82 inmates were upset at having to follow pandemic medical protocols, Gregory Thomas, another spokesman for the department, said in an email.
The Prison Emergency Response Team took control of the disturbance in the cell block a short time later, he wrote. Craven Correctional will remain on lock down until further notice.
An internal investigation is underway, Thomas stated, and those involved will face internal disciplinary measures.
Craven Correctional is a medium custody facility for men in Vanceboro that can house up to 850 offenders, according to the Department of Public Safety’s website.
The facility is one of the state’s largest prison processing centers, according to the website.
After people are convicted of felonies, they enter the state prison system by first going through processing at the medium security prison, the website states.
“Incoming offenders from the county jails are immediately placed in medical isolation on arrival from the jails, without contact with the general population, and tested for COVID-19,” Bull wrote in an email.
Over a about a four-week period, prisoners are evaluated and interviewed to determine assignments to prisons, jobs and programs, the website states. More than 400 people are processed through the prison each month.
This story was originally published August 23, 2020 at 1:55 PM.
