Prisoners at St. Louis’ Justice Center held a 70-year-old guard hostage for several hours, according to reports.
Police said that the guard, a corrections officer for the Justice Center, was held hostage and released around 8:30 a.m. He suffered minor injuries and was immediately taken to a hospital for treatment.
The St. Louis Department of Public Safety’s interim director, Charles Coyle, and the city’s commissioner of corrections, Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah, provided updates on the situation on Tuesday afternoon.
Coyle said that they plan to file criminal charges against the two suspects involved in the hostage situation. The accused are reportedly being held on charges ranging from unlawful possession of a firearm to murder and could face charges including assault and kidnapping for taking the guard hostage.
According to the interim director, the incident began at 6 a.m. and is linked to at least two prisoners. At the Justice Center, the two inmates made demands and kidnapped the corrections officer while breakfast was being served.
Following calls for assistance, a SWAT squad and numerous St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers arrived at the scene. Coyle said that the police eventually used “less-than-lethal” force to gain control of the situation. Neither Coyle nor the police have disclosed what type of force was used.
Authorities cleared the site at 9:30 in the morning. The St. Louis SWAT Team was called in to help. During the standoff, Tucker was closed down between Market and Clark.
An independent team of investigators is reviewing the video and working to determine a possible motive for the incident. Clemons-Abdullah, meanwhile, said that the detainees only had one demand, which was pizza.
The hostage situation was one of the latest acts of violence inside the jail, which reportedly holds around 700 inmates. Advocates for inmates have long complained about the jail’s poor conditions. Between the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021, there have been three uprisings among inmates.
According to ABC News, prisoners smashed out fourth-floor windows in February 2021, started fires, created flooding, and threw chairs and other objects through the shattered glass. Inmates also reportedly attacked a guard in the process.
