At least two staff members from the The Stillwater Correctional Facility in Bayport, Minnesota are in the hospital after being exposed to drugs.
According to a press release, prison employees responded to a report of an incarcerated man smoking an unknown substance in his cell. One of the staff reported light-headedness, nausea and an increase in heart rate, and several others began feeling ill. In total, 9 staff members were taken to the hospital.
Officials say separately, but in the same housing unit, an incarcerated man threw a container with an unknown substance from his cell that landed near staff. One staff member was given Narcan when they began to experience symptoms.
Shannon Loehrke with The Minnesota Department of Corrections confirmed in a statement that "several staff members were taken to the hospital out of an abundance of caution," and the facility is on a temporary lockdown.
Investigators are trying to determine what the substance was and how the contraband is being introduced into the facility. They say an inmate that was caught smoking the substance told investigators he had smoked a stronger than expected dose of synthetic K-2 which is a form of synthetic marijuana.
This comes just two weeks after The Federal Women’s Prison in Waseca was put on lockdown after nine inmates and two employees were hospitalized for drug exposure on September 4.
Visits to see inmates at both facilities have been suspended until further notice.