Jackson Free Press

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Part of the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman is back under lockdown only days after restrictions there had been lifted.

Several problems occurred within the first three days after a previous lockdown was removed Friday at Parchman's Unit 29, the Mississippi Department of Corrections said in a news release Wednesday.

The unit holds more than 1,500 medium- and maximum-security inmates. During a lockdown, prisoners cannot have visitors or use the commissary or telephone.

Within the first three days after the previous lockdown was lifted, a visitor tried to bring in contraband, a staff member was assaulted, an inmate suffered a gang-related assault, contraband was found twice on the same inmate and someone tampered with security cameras, the department said.

"It appears that the collective mindset of inmates at Unit 29 is that they do not appreciate having privileges," Corrections Commissioner Marshall Fisher said in the news release. "Assaults on my staff are unacceptable. Contraband continues to be recovered. We don't know if these acts over three days are isolated or if the inmates are working together. One of the inmates involved in these incidents reportedly also has threatened staff."

The release did not specify what kind of contraband was found. No charges were brought against the visitor.