2 inmates dead after uprising at Nebraska prison

Two inmates were killed and others were injured in a Nebraska prison Thursday after inmates revolted against staff members and started a fire in a courtyard.

It is the second deadly incident at the facility over the last two years, which is considered a maximum/medium security facility.

Correctional officers found the bodies of two inmates in the housing units where several altercations took place on Thursday afternoon after about 40 inmates refused to return to their cells at the Tecumseh State Prison in southeast Nebraska, according to the Omaha World-Herald.

"Any loss of life is tragic," State Corrections Director Scott Frakes told a news conference shown on the newspaper's website. The staff "have handled the situation extremely well which limited the incident to a small number of participants."

No prison employees were injured. An unspecified number of inmates suffered injuries that weren't life-threatening, said Frakes.

"This incident is a reminder that this is a dangerous business," he said.

A lockdown was announced around 2:45 p.m. and said around 5:30 p.m. that the housing unit was "habitable and secure."

In a statement, Gov. Pete Ricketts said the incident was "swiftly resolved and public safety was never at risk."

"Director Frakes will thoroughly investigate this incident, and inmates involved in the incident and the loss of life will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law," Ricketts said.

Deadly incident in 2015

The incident took place at the same housing unit where two other inmates were killed during a May 2015 riot that caused roughly $2 million US in damage. That riot, which also left several staff members injured, involved several hundred inmates in three living units, a gym and a courtyard.

An investigation later found that prisoners were trying to air grievances about what they viewed as perks given to certain inmates and not others and disrespect by inexperienced staff members.

On Thursday afternoon, inmates in grey hooded sweatshirts could be seen waving their arms in the yard as prison guards watched them from behind a razor wire fence. Smoke billowed from the open yard and a helicopter circled overhead. County and state officials were at the scene, along with a prison emergency response team.

Mike Marvin, who heads the union that represents corrections employees, said he was told that inmates had taken mattresses out into the prison yard and threw them into the fire. Marvin said he didn't know why the inmates were protesting.

Doug Koebernick, an inspector general who oversees the corrections department, said he plans to conduct "a full investigation into the circumstances and catalysts of the riot."

Officials said they would not release names of the victims until next of kin were notified.