100 inmates involved in Alabama prison riot

ATMORE, Ala. (AP/WIAT) – A prison in southern Alabama is on lockdown after violence erupted at the facility late Friday.

A prison spokesperson says the warden and a correctional officer were stabbed, but their injuries were not life-threatening.

Alabama Department of Corrections spokesman Bob Horton said the warden and a corrections officer were stabbed after prisoners tried to take control of one of the dormitories at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in southern Alabama, just outside of Atmore.

According to Horton, the officer was stabbed while trying to detain an inmate involved in a fight. When the warden, Carter Davenport, entered the dorm with other officers to assess the situation, he was also stabbed.

Davenport was treated at the prison for his injuries. The officer was taken to a medical facility not at the prison.

Horton says after the assaults, inmates lit a fire outside the dorm in a hallway.

The ADOC sent a correctional emergency response team to the prison. The team entered the dorm and secured it.

Horton says around 100 inmates took part in the incident. Criminal charges are pending against the inmates involved.

The prison is on lockdown until the ADOC finishes investigating the incident.

The facility houses death row inmates and is the only facility in the state that carries out executions.

The most recent monthly statistics available from the state show 830 prisoners housed at Holman in December. The prison’s population included 161 men on death row.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.