Tennessee authorities on Thursday quelled a second disturbance at a youth detention center where 32 detainees broke out of their dormitories and escaped the facility earlier this week, according to The Associated Press.
Twenty-four boys kicked out aluminum panels beneath exterior windows on Wednesday night to break out of their dormitory building in the latest incident, said the Tennessee Department of Children's Services, which runs the center, the AP reported.
Some of the juveniles attacked guards with sticks and stones, and state and local police were called in to help bring the incident at the Woodland Hills Youth Development Center under control by about 5 a.m., the department said, according to the AP.
Guards reported suffering minor injuries in both incidents, and extra guards were posted at the facility on Thursday, the department said, the AP reported.
When the incident ended, 10 youths identified as ring leaders were taken to a juvenile detention facility in Columbia, about 40 miles southwest of Nashville, and the other 14 were returned to their dormitories at Woodland Hills, the department said, according to the AP.
None of the boys escaped the perimeter in the latest incident, the department said, the AP reported. Six of the 32 boys who escaped the facility on Monday night were still at large on Thursday.
Several youths involved in the latest incident also were part of the Monday night breakout, the department said, according to the AP. Several boys involved in Monday's incident had just returned from juvenile court when the second incident erupted, it said.
Some detainees left the dormitory building to escape fumes after others used fire extinguishers to break out windows, the AP reported.
Commissioner Jim Henry said the Children's Services Department is looking at policies that restrict its ability to lock the doors of dormitory rooms for juveniles in state facilities, according to the AP.
Boys can leave their single-person dormitory rooms and enter common areas, which "makes it especially difficult for staff to control youth in these types of situations," Henry said, the AP reported. The department plans to reinforce the aluminum panels and the perimeter fence, it said.
