KMAX: News of the West

Canadian prison riot leaves one inmate dead

AGASSIZ, British Columbia (AP) Prisoners hoarded toilet paper and changed into institutional clothes before a fatal riot at a maximum security prison east of Vancouver, an official with the prison guards union says.

Andy Reekie, regional president for the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, said an officer working Monday night before the riot at Kent maximum-security institution in Agassiz noticed the unusual behavior.

Reekie, who got the information second-hand from people who spoke to officers onsite during the melee, said hoarding toilet paper is often a sign inmates expect to be locked down.

Guards have a tougher time identifying inmates wearing institutional clothing, he added Tuesday.

``After a while, they all look the same,'' said Reekie, who has worked 18 years as a corrections officer.

Corrections officials said rioting broke out late Monday night and inmates were secured in their cells by about 2:30 a.m. Tuesday.

By the time it was over, Darrell Fhanoss, 39, serving a life sentence for second-degree murder, had been beaten and stabbed to death. His home town was not released.

A 41-year-old prisoner also suffered multiple stab wounds and head injuries and was hospitalized in stable condition.

Some security staff suffered minor injuries and at one point two guards locked themselves into a secured area for about 90 minutes until they were escorted out by the prison's emergency response team.

The disturbance began in a unit housing 92 inmates in three cell blocks. Officials said inmates put on masks and barricaded doors before setting fires and trashing prison property.

Guards fired a number of warning shots and used tear gas to try to quell the riot but inmates responded by trying to breach control posts in the cell blocks. The emergency response team was eventually deployed to regain control.

Dennis Finlay, a spokesman for the Correctional Service of Canada, said it was too early to say what caused the riot, although he said some of the inmates seemed to have been drinking homemade alcohol.

Reekie said it's relatively easy for prisoners to make homemade alcohol.

``It's not hard to take a couple of pieces of bread, some sugar and some fruit and let it ferment for a while,'' he said.

Finlay said he couldn't confirm whether inmates were hoarding toilet paper or behaving abnormally before the riot.

``These are the types of observations that officers make and report and whether or not that was the case in this instance I can't confirm,'' he said.

Reekie said he suspected that a change in the way inmates were being served food also played a role. He said he was told tension had been building for some time over the issue.

Finlay said he couldn't comment on whether the system for serving food was a potential factor.

Kent security officials, the coroner's office and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were investigating. The federal maximum security institution is divided into three units, now housing a total of 289 inmates.

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