Prison locked down after riot; 1 dead, 19 hurt

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) —A privately run prison in Mississippi for illegal immigrants remained on lockdown Monday after a riot that began a day earlier left one guard dead and at least 19 people injured, officials said.

All of the roughly 2,500 inmates were secured in their housing units at the Adams County Correctional Facility by 2:45 a.m., nearly 12 hours after the riot began, Mike Machak, a spokesman for the company that owns the facility, said in a statement.

The prison remained on lockdown, and officials were assessing damage at the southwest Mississippi prison owned by Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corp. of America, the statement said.

The 2,567-bed prison near Natchez houses adult male illegal immigrants, most of whom re-entered the U.S. after being deported, said Emilee Beach, a prison spokeswoman.

Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman Chris Burke said the facility holds low-security inmates.

The statement from Machak early Monday said prison employees would work closely with law enforcement to investigate the riot.

"CCA will support full prosecution under the law for all inmates identified as having committed criminal acts during the disturbance," the statement said.

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