SAYRE – On April 14 at approximately 7:30 p.m. staff at North Fork Correctional Center (NFCC) saw a group of inmates enter a pod and start a verbal confrontation with a second group of inmates. The incident escalated, and homemade weapons were used by one group of prisoners during the physical confrontation. Staff responded, got the situation under control quickly and locked down the facility.
As a result of the incident seven inmates were injured. Six prisoners were transported to a nearby medical facility in Elk City and one was transported via helicopter to a facility in Oklahoma City. There were no injuries to any of the North Fork staff.
“This was a significant incident, and due to the quick actions of our staff the situation was quickly contained,” said ODOC Director Joe M. Allbaugh. “Our staff members do the best they can when it comes to properly securing our facilities. It's a difficult task we ask of them, because agency-wide we have correctional officer (CO) staffing shortages. Our CO positions don't pay enough to be competitive in the job market and with the current budget crisis we are experiencing the situation isn't going to get any better anytime soon when it comes to filling vacancies.”
The incident at NFCC is currently under investigation by the Office of Inspector General.
Reader Comments(0)