California State Prisons Locked Down After Attacks on Guards

All of California's adult prisons were placed on lockdown after two gang members attacked and stabbed four guards at the Tehachapi California Correctional Institution

The statewide lockdown was a precaution after the incident in which the gang members attacked two sergeants and two correctional officers, putting three of them in the hospital. A fourth officer, a female, was also taken to the hospital, although her injuries are unknown.

According to a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Terry Thornton, one of the two that attacked the prison officials had a known affiliations with Southern California prison gangs.

Both attackers were also brought to the hospital after officers attempted to hold back the attack using pepper spray, batons and physical force.

Scott Kernan, the correction agency's chief deputy secretary for adult operations, said the statewide lockdown would probably continue at least through this morning as investigators tried to determine whether the attack was part of an organized plan at multiple prisons. There are 170,000 inmates in the state system, including 4,705 at Tehachapi.

Kernan goes on to say, "It was very, very unusual that inmates would make an organized attack on staff, and that's why we're taking it so seriously."

While on lockdown, inmates must stay in their cells and can only leave to eat or perform work duties.

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