ABOVE: More than 20 teens were involved in another disturbance at a juvenile detention facility in Nashville
NASHVILLE – A disturbance has broken out at the same Nashville juvenile detention centre where more than 30 teens escaped earlier this week.
About 20 teens – some of whom were involved in Monday night’s massive breakout – were roaming the campus early Thursday, refusing to return to their dorms, Tennessee Department of Children’s Services spokesman Rob Johnson said.
Police have formed a ring around the centre’s perimeter fence and none of the teens has escaped the facility, Johnson said.
The incident at Woodland Hills Youth Development Center began late Wednesday night and Johnson said authorities were still trying early Thursday to persuade the teens to return to their dorms. Johnson said staff members were still inside the detention centre and were safe.
“Right now, it’s kind of a fluid, active situation,” Johnson said.
Johnson said he was unaware of any injuries.
Thirty-two teens escaped from the detention centre Monday night. Officials said they had kicked out metal panels under the windows in common areas of their dorms to reach the courtyard and slipped out under a weak spot in the perimeter fence. Six of them remain at large.
The detention centre has a long history of violence, allegations of sexual abuse and previous efforts to escape. In 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice ranked Woodland Hills as 13th in the country among juvenile facilities where there had been reports of sexual abuse by staffers.
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