Federal prisons throughout the US have been positioned on lockdown after a gang altercation resulted in two inmates' deaths.

The altercation occurred on the high-security penitentiary in Beaumont, Texas, round 11:30 a.m. native time Monday morning. It concerned members of the MS-13 avenue gang, the Related Press reported.

The 2 inmates who died had been 54-year-old Guillermo Riojas and 34-year-old Andrew Pineda, KFDM reported. The boys had been first transported to a neighborhood hospital with life-threatening accidents.

federal prison lockdown gang kills two guards
Federal prisons throughout the nation have been positioned on lockdown after a gang altercation resulted in two deaths. On this picture, a jail guard stands on the skin of a barred cell.Ian Waldie/Getty

Two further inmates had been additionally transported for evaluation and remedy, the information station added. No different workers or inmates had been injured, nor was there any further menace to the general public, the information station added.

In response, the federal Bureau of Prisons closed 120 federal prisons nationwide, fearful that the killings may encourage retaliatory violence in different prisons.

The lockdown requires inmates to remain of their cells for a lot of the day with no visitations allowed. Nonetheless, due to the continued COVID-19 pandemic, most visitations have been stopped anyway.

Monday's lockdown is the primary for the reason that federal bureau locked down prisons in response to the January 6 Capitol riot in 2021.

MS-13 originated in Los Angeles, California, through the Seventies and '80s. It has since expanded into a global legal gang, working principally in North and Central America.

Within the U.S., the gang has membership in no less than 40 U.S. states, in keeping with The Wall Avenue Journal. An estimated 30,000 to 50,000 members dwell in the US. Nonetheless, within the U.S., the gang's native branches function principally independently slightly than as a nationwide group with shared goals.

The gang members are typically threatened into becoming a member of. New initiates should bear a 13-second "beat in" by which present members punch and kick them.

The gang often retaliates in opposition to its perceived enemies, inflicting violence onto enemies' associates, household, neighbors and different associates. It has additionally focused regulation enforcement and authorities officers in addition to group teams. The gang's weapon of selection is a machete, in keeping with former New York District Legal professional Madeline Singas.

El Salvador's Supreme Court docket considers MS-13 and different related gangs to be terrorist organizations, in keeping with CNN.

A November 2021 investigative report by the Related Press discovered the Bureau of Prisons to be beset with cases of "abuse, graft and corruption" dedicated by jail employees and contractors.

In early January, the company's director, Michael Carvajal, resigned from his place. He had been appointed in February 2020 through the presidency of Donald Trump.