Tear gas leaks into inmate pods at detention center

A correction officer training exercise gone wrong at the Grant County Detention Center exposed more than 60 inmates to tear gas after it unintentionally entered housing pods.

David Palomarez, whose son is incarcerated at the detention center, said he received a distressing call from his son, who told him that the housing pods had been exposed to tear gas, and several inmates had gotten sick from it late Wednesday evening

“I felt a lot of panic because we wanted to figure out what was going on, and it made me kind of angry to hear about it,” he said. “They didn’t even know what was happening, it was just burning their eyes and nose and mouths, and he said they were puking and snotting.”

On Wednesday, Grant County Detention Center corrections officers held a monthly training exercise at around 6:40 p.m., during which they deployed tear gas to acclimate officers to it, according to Warden Joseph Andazola.

“We have what’s called a special response team, and we do training once or twice a month,” Andazola said. “Yesterday’s training synopsis was a detainee in the recreation yard with a weapon. We always call dispatch to let them know we’re going to do trainings and deploy munitions.”

The team continued training before deciding to do another tear gas exercise around 7:35 p.m. “Within minutes of the second deployment, the detention center was made aware that tear gas had entered male inmate pods,” Andazola said.

HVAC units on the roof had the damperss open, which sucked the gas in and mixed it with the air in the HVAC unit, according to the warden. Prior to the training, the detention center had recently redone their showers, and the dampeners were open to help the showers dry after construction.

In total, about 68 inmates were affected by the gas.

“The team ceased training and quickly developed a response team,” Andazola said. “The team, with assistance from the shift officers, removed all the detainees from the male units, reactivated the purge system and opened several doors to air out the areas.”

Andazola has suspended the use of all gas or munitions training within the facility until further notice. The facility’s medical staff will be screening the inmates. Andazola said the inmates also have tablets so they can call medical staff if they feel sick.

“There were still some people that had asthma, and they had to go and seek medical help,” Palomarez said. “If they’re going to do these trainings with live gas, they should be somewhere else — nowhere near where the inmates are.”