BOSTON — A state official in Massachusetts says several dozen inmates at a maximum-security prison armed themselves and were "getting ready for war" during a disturbance at the facility.
Secretary of Public Safety Daniel Bennett says the incident began with a fight Monday between two inmates at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center and quickly escalated when 47 inmates refused orders to return to their cells.
>>MORE PHOTOS: Destruction caused by Massachusetts prison riot
Bennett says security video shows inmates - including some serving life sentences for murder - smashing furniture, computers and fire extinguishers to fashion makeshift knives and other weapons. He says they intended to attack corrections officers.
The riot ended about three hours later. Bennett credits a decision to remove corrections officers from the unit when the violence began as preventing serious injuries.
The inmates gave up after police flooded the unit with pepper spray.
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