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Authorities on Monday were investigating the cause of a two-hour prison riot at a Castaic jail that left 20  inmates and two deputies with minor injures.

More than 200 inmates at the Pitchess Detention Center’s South Facility armed themselves with shanks and threw rocks at deputies in a coordinated attack Sunday afternoon.

Inmates from six barracks began throwing rocks at deputies at about 2 p.m. while other inmates began fighting with each other at picnic tables and around beds where the inmates sleep, according to a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department statement.

“Every single inmate will be questioned. Physical evidence or weapons will be confiscated,” said Steve Whitmore, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesman.

“There’s an inch by inch, pound by pound, search of every area involved in this. It’s a process that takes time.”

Some of the barracks were damaged, forcing authorities to transfer inmates to other jails in Los Angeles County while the structures were repaired. Authorities are determining which inmates actually started the riot, Whitmore said.



Those responsible will be placed in isolation cells, he said.

 Some inmates broke windows and used the shards of glass as stabbing weapons. After the riot started, deputies began firing pepper balls, sting balls and other nonlethal weapons to break up the fight. 

Emergency response teams from the surrounding jail facilities, the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station and California Highway Patrol responded to the jail as a precaution.



The riot ended and order was restored to the jail at about 4 p.m. More than 400 inmates were jailed in the six barracks where the fracas started. After the incident, authorities began searching the jail and more than 1,100 inmates of the housed at the facility.

One deputy sprained an ankle and another suffered a minor cut.



Two inmates were transported to a local hospital, one of whom suffered a possible seizure. The other complained of shortness of breath. Ten other inmates were transported to the USC-Los Angeles County USC Medical Center and treated for lacerations and bruises, and eight other inmates were treated for minor injuries at the jail. 

Several inmates cut themselves trying to make shanks from shards of glass from broken prison windows.

No inmates were hospitalized because of their injuries, according to the statement.

 After the incident, every inmate in the South Facility was taken outside to make sure nobody escaped and to search for weapons, Whitmore said.

CONUS TOC SOURCE