Inmates took control of Bertie-Martin Regional Detention Center in northeastern North Carolina, on Monday prompting a response from more than 20 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. Photo courtesy North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation/Facebook
June 30 (UPI) -- Authorities regained control of a North Carolina jail from inmates who overran the facility Monday and took two correctional officers hostage, a local sheriff said, ending the nine-hour standoff.
Little is known about what occurred at the Bertie-Martin Regional Detention Center, located in northeastern North Carolina about 114 miles east of Raleigh. In announcing that the situation had come to a close, Bertie County Sheriff Tyrone Ruffin told reporters at an evening press conference that the investigation into the cause of the facility's takeover would begin.
"I would say that this investigation could go on for several days, so we ask that everyone be patient with us," he said.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation said in a statement that an unknown number of inmates at the detention center overpowered correctional guards and seized control of the facility at around 5 a.m. EDT.
