Governor takes post-riot tour of Tecumseh prison
By: Camila Orti
A little over a week after a riot broke out at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution, Governor Pete Ricketts and Department of Corrections Director Scott Frakes took a tour.
The facility has been on lockdown since inmates wreaked havoc on Mother’s Day, lighting fires and attacking staff members and each other. The incident left two prisoners dead.
“Director Frakes and the warden have dealt with this very difficult situation and done a great job,” Gov. Ricketts said.
On Tuesday, the governor got to take a look at the aftermath.
“Some of the glass when they started the fire by the doors, it melted the plexiglass,” Warden Brian Gage explained.
Gage took Ricketts past smashed windows and scorched walls and into the 32-cell unit where a lot of the action took place. Damage estimates could reach around $500,000. Unit 2B still needs to be cleaned up but officials say they expect to be moving inmates back into the unit within 48 hours.
“Our maintenance and our engineering department have done an amazing job so far and they have lists to make sure fire codes, making sure people are safe,” Gage said.
Prisoners also broke into the offices next to the gym. Gage says a female staff member barricaded herself inside one of them with a desk.
“She felt that she was being threatened, they were pounding and they wanted her out of the office,” Gage said.
The Nebraska State Patrol is still investigating and will turn information over to the Attorney General for disciplinary action.
Starting Tuesday, inmates are receiving three meals a day- they were getting two. Laundry and more extensive medical services should also be starting back up this week.
According to prison officials, nine employees quit following the uprising, putting extra pressure on staff members who have been working a lot of overtime hours and sometimes double shifts.
