Police: 17 injured in 400-inmate brawl at Tucson prison

A fight involving more than 400 inmates broke out Sunday morning at a prison near Tucson, Arizona, leaving 17 prisoners injured along with two members of the prison staff, according to The Associated Press.

While it's not clear what started the brawl, authorities said it appeared to break down along racial lines, with roughly 300 white and Latino prisoners fighting about 100 African-Americans in the minimum-security prison.

About 1,200 inmates are housed in the Arizona State Prison Complex's Whitestone unit, where the fight broke out. The prison remained on lockdown for the rest of the day and all visitors were turned away.

It's not the first time the prison has largely lost control over a significant portion of its inmate population. The same prison's Santa Rita Unit was the site of a 200-person brawl last September that left 11 inmates injured and put two police officers in the hospital.

This video is from KVOA-TV, aired Sunday, March 3, 2013.

------

Photo: Shutterstock.com.