Four detainees stabbed during altercation at jail in downtown St. Louis

ST. LOUIS — Four inmates at a downtown St. Louis jail were injured after being stabbed during a brawl, the latest case of violence at the prison.

A security guard sent out an emergency call about a public disturbance at the City Justice Center around 1:20 p.m. Wednesday, St. Louis Department of Public Safety spokesman Monte Chambers told the St. Louis Post-Shipping. The injured prisoners were taken to a hospital. Their condition was not immediately released.

Prison staff are investigating the cause of the brawl.

The prison has struggled to hire enough guards. Officials said earlier this year that it had fewer than 100 correctional officers on staff, despite the budget calling for 226 positions.

Advocates for inmates have long complained about conditions at the prison, which was the site of three uprisings between late 2020 and early 2021.

In February 2021, inmates set fires, caused flooding, smashed fourth-floor windows, threw chairs and other items through the broken glass, and assaulted a guard.

Prisoners have again smashed windows and set fires during a new riot in April 2021A month later, Dale Glass, the besieged director from prison, discharged.

And in 2023 the prisoners will kidnapped a 70-year-old guard for hours before a SWAT team intervened. The guard suffered minor injuries.