Two downtown Los Angeles jails were placed on lockdown Wednesday and several people were injured after a fight broke out between Latino and African-American inmates, authorities said.
Twin Towers Correctional Facility and the Men’s Central Jail were locked down, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Brandon Longoria said. Help had been requested for a possible riot, Longoria said about 1:15 p.m.
Another deputy later said the riot occurred at the Men’s Central Jail but both facilities — which are across the street from one another — were on lockdown.
Eighty inmates were involved in the fight, Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Nicole Nishida said. The “disturbance” occurred inside a dormitory at about 12:30 p.m. and lasted about 10 minutes, she said.
Four patients were transported from the Men’s Central Jail with injuries that were not life threatening, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The Sheriff’s Department later stated in a news release that the inmates were all treated on scene.
One of the patients was stabbed and three others had superficial wounds, authorities on scene said.
A source inside the jail told KTLA the fight occurred between black and Latino inmates, but, at a news conference, Nishida would not confirm that.
Medical captains went inside a ward to triage patients, according to Margaret Stewart of LAFD.
More than a LAFD ambulances could be seen staged outside the Men’s Central Jail, located at 441 Bauchet St. (map), aerial video from Sky5 showed.
About 59 firefighters responded, as well as 13 rescue ambulances and five fire units, Stewart said.
One shirtless man was brought outside and placed in a chair on a green triage mat that had been set up outside an area labeled “ambulance entrance” near inmate transport buses, aerial video showed.
The jail resumed normal operations at 4: 45 p.m.
KTLA’s Jennifer Thang contributed to this article.
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