GRANTS PASS, Ore — Grants Pass police arrested three juveniles from the Josephine County Juvenile Justice Center following an armed two-hour standoff at the facility.
The Grants Pass P0lice Department received a call Sunday night from an employee at the center, stating that a male juvenile assaulted another detainee. According to police, the male juvenile refused to return to the cell and other inmates “joined in open defiance to JJC staff.”
Police add that within moments of the initial call, two males and one female juvenile began destroying the common area of the facility, and pushed items against the door to prevent law enforcement from entering.
“The youth suspects attempted to break glass leading into the facility’s control room and individual cells of other youths that were not involved. Officers assigned to the Crisis Negotiations Team and Options Mental Health professionals responded to the scene to de-escalate the situation.” Grants Pass Police said in a release.
The juvenile detainees then reportedly armed themselves with makeshift weapons, with one threatening to harm the other. The scene prompted GPPD to call in SWAT to de-escalate the situation according to the department.
Officers were able to breach the barricaded area and took all three youths into custody. Only the initial assault victim was injured during the incident.
Because of the damage inside of the facility, GPPD said it’s deemed “completely unusable.” All of the youths residing on the detention side have been moved to other regional facilities.
The three juveniles are facing new charges that are currently unknown at the time. GPPD thanked all of the partner agencies who assisted with the incident.
This remains a developing story and more details will be released as it becomes available.
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