Prison Sergeant Taken To Hospital After Series Of Inmate Fights In U.P.

KINCHELOE, Mich. (WWJ) - An inmate was stabbed, a second injured, and a prison sergeant was taken to a local hospital after a series of fights at Kinross Prison in northern Michigan.

Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Chris Gautz says the brawls began to break out at about 2:30 p.m. Monday and spread throughout the Upper Peninsula prison for just around 90 minutes.

"We had reports of fights in front of two different housing units that took place within a few minutes of each other, around that 2:30 time frame," Gautz told WWJ Newsradio 950's Sandra McNeill. "And then about an hour later there was this other incident inside a different housing unit."

The prison sergeant was taken to an emergency room where was checked out by doctors and found to be OK, Gautz said.

Gautz says the injuries to the prisoner who was stabbed were non-life-threatening. A second inmate also required treatment for non-life-threatening injuries, he said.

Gautz said there is no evidence that the violence it tied to recent attacks against law enforcement. They're investigating whether the fights were gang-related.

Kinross Prison is located near Kincheloe, Michigan