Areial view of the Lusignan Prison
Sixteen inmates from the Lusignan prison were shot and injured during a riot inside the jail house Saturday (July 29).
Director of Prisons Gladwin Samuels explained that at approximately 4:30.p.m on Saturday inmates at the holding area of the Prison were involved in a series of assaults and aggressive conduct which resulted in extreme disorder and threatened their own safety, that of the joint services team providing security at the facility.
Some of the items prisoners broke from sleeping area to pelt staff
As a last resort the use of force, including firearms, was required to restore order and maintain the integrity of the holding facility.
Three prisoners who suffered minor gunshot wounds and two who suffered injuries as a result of fights were taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation for treatment while the others were being treated on site at the Lusignan Prison Infirmary. One prisoner was admitted and others treated and sent away.
None of those who were shot are, at this time, deemed to be in a life-threatening condition.
The Guyana Prison Service stated that it regrets that this course of action had to be taken but was left with no other option given the extreme disorder which broke out in the holding area and the refusal of the prisoners to heed the commands of the officers to desist. (DPI, Guyana).