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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Prisoners in a medium-security cell block took control of a section of Lansing Correctional Facility on Thursday, damaging offices and trashing parts of the state prison.
“They’ve broken everything that could be broken, except the bars because you can’t break the bars,” an inmate told 41 Action News by phone Thursday from inside cell block C at Lansing Correctional Facility. “Windows, microwaves — they’ve trashed the officer’s station where they do their work. The computers are broken. The cameras have been taken down, just like mayhem. ... Somebody just broke a window now.”
Kansas Department of Corrections spokesman Randall Bowman confirmed earlier Thursday that prisoners were out of their cells and damaging offices in cell block C at the state prison.
The cell block holds 124 to 160 inmates, Bowman said.
“Right now, in my cell block, there are at least 100 to 150 inmates going back and forth, breaking stuff,” the inmate, who spoke with 41 Action News on the condition of anonymity, said.
Lansing Correctional Facility confirmed Tuesday that eight inmates and nine staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. Those numbers have risen to 12 inmates and 14 staff members, Bowman said Thursday.