Riots at a South Carolina maximum security prison that killed seven inmates overnight broke out because of territory, money and contraband, authorities said Monday.
Chaos at Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, a men’s state prison, began in one cell at around 7:15 p.m. Sunday before other fights erupted in two more units, Corrections Director Bryan Stirling said at a press conference.
Stirling blamed contraband cell phones for sparking the riots, which took several hours to contain until a SWAT team entered the units, he said.
“We believe from the initial investigation is that this was all about territory, this is about contraband, this is about cell phones,” Stirling said. “These folks are fighting over real money and real territory while they’re incarcerated.”
Another 17 inmates were injured and taken to hospitals for treatment.
The victims killed were stabbed, beaten and slashed to death, Lee County Coroner Larry Logan said.
They were serving anywhere between a decade to life in prison for trafficking crack cocaine, domestic violence and murder, officials said.
They were identified as Eddie Gaskins, 32; Joshua Jenkins, 33; Cornelius McClary, 33; Michael Milledge, 44; Damonte Rivera, 24; Corey Scott, 36; and Raymond Scott, 28.
Logan described the prison as pure chaos when he arrived, with fights everywhere he looked at the facility, which houses about 1,600 inmates.
One unidentified inmate told the Associated Press bodies were “literally stacked on top of each other.”
The inmate didn’t say what sparked the fights, but said most prisoners have gang ties and some attacked and injured a rival gang member.
“I just saw three dead on the sidewalk outside of my unit,” he told the AP in messages sent from a contraband cellphone. “One guy is still alive and breathing, but just barely.”
Footage from inside the prison appeared to show trails and pools of blood on the floor, according to the Post and Courier newspaper.
No prison guards were injured.
The men’s prison has a troubled history going back several years.
Several inmates took an officer hostage in one part of the prison last month, and got control of one side of a dormitory.
In February, one inmate killed another prisoner. Two officers stationed there were also stabbed in 2015.
With News Wire Services
