The McCormick Correctional Institution is on lockdown as officials investigate a fight that broke out at the state prison Wednesday evening.
Inmates in one of the dorms were returning to their cells following their evening meal when the fracas broke out at around 6:30 pm. State Corrections Department spokesman Clark Newsom says a number of inmates were armed with makeshift weapons and several injures occurred.
Newsom says several inmates were injured with two having to be airlifted with life-threatening injuries to the Medical University of Georgia in Augusta. Newsom said there is speculation that the fight may have been gang-related, but it’s still early in the investigative process. He says a search after the fight turned up several more weapons and other contraband.
The maximum security prison houses more than 1,250 inmates outside the town of McCormick.
AUDIO: Newsom says the fight broke out after the evening meal (1:04)
