EL RENO, Okla. (KFOR) – Inmates were sent to a hospital after violence broke out overnight inside the Canadian County Detention Center.
A fight broke out after the power went out just after 2 a.m. in a 60-bed pod. Officials say over a dozen inmates were in the fight, and six sent for medical treatment.
Residents confirmed to KFOR a power outage and a larger-than-average police presence overnight, but as for what actually went on in the jail, details are very few and far between.
“My computer and everything was off, I’m sure we lost power sometime,” said El Reno resident Jim Hodgekinson.
An El Reno resident confirmed a power outage overnight in the area around the Canadian County Jail.
Sheriff Chris West released the following statement:
“Shortly after 2 a.m. this morning (9-6-21) members of the Canadian County Special Operations Team were activated to assist with an altercation in the county jail involving approximately 15-20 inmates.
The assaults occurred following a temporary power outage at the county jail, and ended with approximately 6 inmates being transported to area hospitals with minor injuries.
Upon on their arrival, the Special Operations Team made entry into the 60 bed pod where the incident occurred, ending the incident.
‘Although our investigation into the matter has just began, I believe the incident is most likely gang related,’ said Chris West, Canadian County Sheriff.”
CANADIAN COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
“I seen all the red lights and stuff up there and stuff, and I seen all the police up there,” said Clarence Russell.
Russell, an El Reno resident. lives across the street from the jail. He says after the power went out, he went outside to see what was going on.
“We sat out here on the porch last night and looked at them – the police lights and the red lights and stuff. I thought they were trying to stop inmates from escaping and stuff last night,” said Russell.
Canadian County officials confirmed six inmates were “transported to area hospitals with minor injuries.”
West said in his online statement, “Although our investigation into the matter has just began, I believe the incident is most likely gang related,”
But some are wondering since the facility has generators, why didn’t they stop this from happening
“They didn’t come on last night. Normally, when the lights go out, the generators come on, like that they have lights over there, but they didn’t have no lights last night,” said Russell.
We asked West about those generators. He said he is sticking with his statement and declined an in-person interview.
We called OG&E to ask about the outage. They sent us a statement saying, “The outage began at 12:38 a.m. and was restored at 1:19 a.m. The outage affected approximately 1,800 customers”
