Lock-Down Ordered by San Quentin Officials

After discovering a dozen “inmate-manufactured” stabbing weapons in a routine search, San Quentin state prison officials ordered a lock-down Wednesday in anticipation of a possible conflict between rival street factions or ethnic groups among the prisoners.

Guards found the weapons--ranging in size from half-inch wide to ice-pick-shaped devices up to 11 inches long--in a search of a lower exercise yard. A thorough examination of the 432-acre, medium-security prison, which houses 5,463 inmates, was expected to take from six to 10 days.