What We Know About the Four Stabbing Deaths in a Private Oklahoma Prison Last Weekend

Four inmates died over the weekend after a riot broke out at a privately-run Oklahoma prison. Though the precise cause of the chaos is still unclear, tensions in the Cimarron Correctional Facility in the small city of Cushing, which sits between Tulsa and Oklahoma City, remain high. After all, this is the second publicly-reported incident of violence there just this summer; in June, 11 inmates were taken to the hospital after a disturbance that reportedly involved between 200 and 300 inmates in three separate housing units. And the planned—but now delayed—execution of a man widely believed to be innocent at a separate, public prison has the Oklahoma criminal justice system squarely in the national spotlight right now.

Three inmates were declared dead on Saturday from stabbing wounds, or "multiple sharp force injuries," as the local medical examiner described them. The fourth later succumbed to a similar injury. Officials have not commented on the origin of the weapons, but we know the deceased inmates' names are Anthony Fulwilder, Michael Mayden, Kyle Tiffee and Christopher Tignor.

All of their deaths have been ruled homicides.

The Cimarron Correctional Facility is operated by the largest private prison company in the country, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). While the company's facilities have been plagued by disturbing incidents over the years, CCA has also been expanding its operations and increasing profits. The company, which was founded in 1983, currently has a capacity of approximately 85,000 beds across the country, and in 2014 saw total revenue of over $1.6 billion. Still, this weekend's tragedy provides more fodder for prison reform advocates who argue private facilities are uniquely prone to violence that results in the death of inmates.

The 1,720-bed Cimarron facility houses both maximum and medium security prisoners and is run by CCA on a contract from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (DOC). The Saturday melee reportedly erupted as inmates from the medium-security wing were being let into the exercise yard. A former Oklahoma state correctional officer, who spoke to VICE on condition of anonymity, said that "intel is that the fight was between [members of the] Irish Mob and the UAB [United Aryan Brotherhood]." He described it as "Caucasian-on-Caucasian violence."

In other words, a gang fight.

According to a CCA media release, the "inmate-on-inmate altercation lasted less than two minutes." Staff then worked for "approximately 38 minutes" to secure the housing unit. As of Sunday, "three [more] inmates remain in area hospitals in stable condition." The facility, as well as all other Oklahoma prisons, remained on lockdown into Wednesday as CCA continues investigating (along with officials from the Oklahoma DOC inspector general's office). During lockdown, inmates are confined to their cells for 24 hours a day and all visitations, from media or family members, are suspended.

The Oklahoman reported that this is probably "the deadliest single incident involving inmates in state history."

According to an Associated Press investigation that included a review of federal Bureau of Justice Statistics numbers, Oklahoma has the highest state prison homicide rate in the country. State prisons were at 116 percent inmate capacity but funded at just 67 percent staffing capacity as of January, but Oklahoma pays CCA for 98 percent of its beds, even if inmates aren't occupying them. According to a report from In the Public Interest these types of occupancy guarantees—which are increasingly common with private prisons —"incentivize keeping prison beds filled, which runs counter to many states' public policy goals of reducing the prison population and increasing efforts for inmate rehabilitation."

Crowded prisons are often more difficult and dangerous to manage. The former Oklahoma correctional officer told me that "staffing patterns are a weakness in private prisons" and that four inmates being killed in such a short time is "indicative that the staff were not doing their jobs."

Kathy Barber, the fiancé of victim Anthony Fulwilder, told a local news channel that Fulwilder "had warned her a few days ago that he felt he was being targeted." The same report cited an anonymous former CCA correctional officer as saying she was less than shocked at the violence. "You've got people who are afraid for their life that want to get out of the [correctional officer] academy. They quit a week later because they can't handle the pressure of when that door locks behind you," the officer told News 9. The former Oklahoma correctional officer who spoke to VICE described Cimarron as "probably one of the most violent facilities in the United States."

Supporters of private prisons argue that they run more efficiently and save states money. But ACLU staff attorney Carl Takei says that "the evidence of cost savings is mixed" and insists there is "heightened level of violence against inmates."

Civil liberties advocates like Takei can't help but wonder that when it comes to for-profit incarceration, "What is the ultimate societal price?"

John Washington is a novelist and translator currently living in Arizona. Follow him on Twitter.