Sheriff says riot in Tennessee prison is contained, inmates back in cells

A riot in a prison northeast of Nashville was contained overnight, officials say, and all prisoners returned to their cells after officers deployed chemical agents into the prison yard.

The Trousdale County Sheriff’s Department says it got word just after 10 p.m. Sunday of the trouble at the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center.

“A multi-agency response followed a short time after the initial call,” the department said. “The incident was contained inside the facility fences. The prison staff reported all prisoners were returned back to their cells.”

CBS Nashville affiliate WTVF-TV was told by CoreCivic, the company that runs the facility, that the incident began when several inmates refused to go back to their cells.

WTVF said three guards were held hostage but all got out safely and with no major injuries.

At one point, there were roughly 100 officers on the scene from several agencies.

In a statement Monday, CoreCivic said staff “responded to a large group of inmates from several housing units who exited their cells and gained access to an inner yard, becoming disruptive and confrontational” on Sunday night.

“This group created safety hazards by attempting to destroy facility property, compromising security cameras, setting a few small fires and refusing to comply with multiple verbal directives provided by facility staff,” the statement continued, saying local law enforcement was alerted and helped secure the site.

“Chemical agents were deployed in accordance with department protocol,” CoreCivic said.

WTVF quoted Trousdale County Sheriff Ray Russell as saying, “There’s no threat at all. The prisoners never got to the main fence where they could escape. They were in a yard and contained,” adding that officers “shot gas into the yard and forced them back into the cell block.”

CoreCivic said one correctional officer was received minor injuries and was treated and released from the hospital.