1 Killed, 3 Injured in Disturbance at Federal Penitentiary in Kansas

Inmates took over part of a maximum-security federal prison for several hours Sunday night, an official said. One inmate was stabbed to death and three were injured.

About 300 inmates took over an auditorium, a food service area and a recreation yard, prison spokesman Chuck Strickland said early today. He didn’t say how they took control of the areas.

Authorities restored order after several hours, and inmates were back in their cells by midnight, Strickland said.

No prison staff members were hurt or taken hostage during the takeover, although one was rescued when a fire truck lowered a platform over a wall at the U.S. Penitentiary, Strickland said. Two other staff members fled from the occupied areas.

Strickland said one inmate was stabbed to death and three were hospitalized.

He wouldn’t say how badly the others were hurt.

“The injuries were not as a result of any confrontation with staff but rather between the inmates themselves,” said Greg Bogdan, a spokesman for the Bureau of Prisons in Washington.

The prison, which houses nearly 1,700 inmates in its maximum security unit, was under lockdown early today.

The prison is one of the highest-security penitentiaries in the United States.

Strickland said the prison was damaged, but he didn’t elaborate.