Uprising at Louisiana Juvenile Detention Facility

Twenty teen inmates broke loose in a Louisiana juvenile detention center Thursday night and gained control of facility areas.  They were pursued by a SWAT team on the grounds, according to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. The center was secured at midnight and the inmates were returned to custody. 

A prison employee and two inmates were injured and hospitalized. 

The Bridge City Center has had several incidents and escapes in the past, including the same Thursday, in the early morning. Five inmates escaped by cutting through a bathroom ceiling and jumping a fence. Three teens were taken into custody early Thursday morning and one was apprehended Thursday afternoon. A 16-year-old boy from Tangipahoa Parish is still on the loose.

Several other inmates have escaped since April of last year. 

The minimum security facility houses violent juvenile offenders. 

Senator Patrick Connick of Louisiana said he wants extra security or the detention center should be shut down. He said some of the inmates are “the worst of the worst,” and “The facility is not designed to house these folks. The security is not there. Staffing is not there. Just like the problem at Orleans parish prison, there’s not enough guards and there’s no consequences for their actions.”
 
 

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