ELY, NV – A violent outbreak at Nevada’s Ely State Prison resulted in the deaths of three inmates and left nine others injured, officials reported.
The altercation, which erupted on Tuesday afternoon, prompted an immediate lockdown of the maximum-security facility. The Nevada Department of Corrections confirmed that no correctional officers were injured during the incident but withheld the identities of the deceased and the injured inmates.
Governor Joe Lombardo’s office attributed the violence to gang-related tensions within the prison. Ely State Prison, located in a remote area of eastern Nevada, is designed to house up to 1,183 inmates and currently employs around 400 staff members.
The recent fatalities are part of a troubling trend at Ely State Prison. Earlier this year, two inmates, aged 38 and 49, died under different circumstances, raising questions about the facility’s safety and management practices.
In December 2022, a group of inmates staged a hunger strike to protest unsafe conditions and inadequate food supplies, drawing attention from advocacy groups and concerned family members.
While the Nevada Department of Corrections has not provided further details about the latest incident, the event highlights the ongoing challenges of managing gang violence in high-security prisons.