ST. LOUIS — Four inmates were injured in a stabbing at the St. Louis City Justice Center, officials say.
According to the Director of Public Safety Monte Chambers, the Division of Correctional staff got a distress call from one of its Correctional Officers, alerting them to a disturbance between several detainees in a pod.
At an understaffed jail with some 700 detainees, one community leader says it's no surprise something like this could happen.
Four detainees were injured when the disturbance escalated into a physical altercation between the detainees, Chambers said. Detention Facilities Oversight Board chairman Rev. Darryl Gray confirmed the physical altercation was a stabbing.
The detainees were transported to an area hospital for their injuries. Chambers did not elaborate on how serious their injuries were.
A Correctional Officer was also transported to an area hospital for evaluation at about the same time, but it was not related to the disturbance.
At an understaffed jail with some 700 detainees, one community leader said it's no surprise something like this could happen.
"Our biggest concern is safety, the safety of detainees but also the safety of everyone else in the CJC,” said Rev. Darryl Gray with the Detention Facilities Oversight Board.
That's why Gray said he was relieved to get a call Wednesday as soon as something went down.
In the past, oversight leaders say they struggled to get information like this.
"The good thing about this is that the communication is better,” he said.
He was told there's now an internal investigation at the jail to see if staff properly followed protocol. He's concerned about a staffing shortage.
"It's hard to get police officers. It's hard to get correctional officers. It's hard to get sheriff’s (deputies) because of what
we are paying them and what we’re expecting them to do,” he said.
He said it's a ripple-down effect that can lead to what happened Wednesday.
"You might be in your cell 22 to 23 hours a day because if you don't have enough staff and you allow detainees out, not knowing if any of them have a beef together…it's hard to manage security. It's hard to manage safety so the best way to manage is to keep people locked up but that's not good for detainees because now you're creating a hostility…so once you get out, you create a greater opportunity for an explosion,” he said.
The incident is under investigation.
No further information was released regarding the incident at this time.