Natchez, Mississippi- A 23-year-old guard has been killed and five workers injured in a riot by hundreds of inmates at a private Mississippi prison. An inmate was also injured, and some two dozen employees were held hostage yesterday at the Adams County Correctional Facility in Natchez. Local and state law enforcement agencies had to be called in to quell the violence at the prison, run by the private Corrections Corp. of America, and set up perimeter security to protect the public. One section of the prison apparently remained under prisoner control as of late last night.
"As it stands right now, there is still one area that we have to take back from prisoners, but I don't foresee that taking long," said Adams County Sheriff Chuck Mayfield. "I just want people to understand that no one has gotten out and no one will," he added. "We have all our deputies out here and ready. The county can sleep well because we've got it secured." The Tennessee-based company running the facility did not reveal what triggered the violence. The prison houses some 2,500 prisoners—many of them illegal immigrants—for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.