The Department of Corrections (DOC) placed the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater on emergency lockdown status today after approximately 100 inmates in one living unit refused to return to their cells. All DOC staff have been removed from the common areas of the housing unit, and two correctional officers are safe in the unit’s secure control area. These two officers are in communication with facility command personnel.

 

DOC Spokesman Andy Skoogman confirmed that the agency activated members of its Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) and, out of an abundance of caution, also deployed the DOC's Special Operations Response Team (SORT). 

 

No injuries have been reported.  Skoogman said the situation is currently stable and the specific reason why the inmates are refusing to return to their cells remains unclear. 

No further information is available at this time.