SC officials say Kershaw prison is under lockdown

KERSHAW, S.C. (AP) — Authorities say the Kershaw Correctional Institution remains under lockdown after a small group of inmates refused to return to their cells Friday evening.

Department of Corrections spokesman Clark Newsom says less than 20 inmates were involved and there have been no injuries. He says all inmates were back in their cells a few hours after the 5:40 p.m. incident although the prison remained on lockdown as a precaution.

Newsom says the lockdown happened when some prisoners who were being taken to the cafeteria began to fight over an unknown item of contraband that was tossed into a prison common area from the outside. Shortly afterward, he says the group refused to return to their cells.