Lee County prison incidents concern SC senators

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — State senators on a committee that oversees South Carolina prisons may bring Corrections Department officials before them to answer questions after inmates took an officer hostage at the same maximum security prison twice in a little over three months.

Sen. Shane Massey says he is concerned about the number of incidents involving prisoners at Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville. In the past four years, there have been three hostage situations and four large fights. In two of those fights, officers had to abandon a dorm and launch tear gas into it to break up the incidents.

The most recent incident at the prison happened Thursday when inmates took a guard hostage. The officer was released after about five hours and was not seriously injured.

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Information from: The State, http://www.thestate.com