Water request, angry teenagers led to prison riot

The new corrections officer on duty at Indian River Juvenile Correctional Facility said he didn’t know he shouldn’t open a teenager’s cell door when he asked for water.

That mistake triggered a cascade of events last Oct. 22. The teen snatched the officer’s keys and ran off to let others out of their cells. A second officer’s keys were swiped, too. A dozen teens then armed themselves with pots and pans and sticks and dashed through the halls of the Ohio Department of Youth Services prison in Massillon.

They barricaded themselves inside the school building and began kicking in windows, throwing shop equipment, pushing over bookshelves, breaking lights and more. Teens used a teacher’s laptop to livestream the vandalism on Facebook.

Investigators concluded that the juveniles carried it out on their own, without help from state employees.

What sparked the riot? Teens told investigators they didn’t want to be kept in their rooms all day long. They told officials they planned the event.

Jeremy Everett, the operations manager on shift the day of the riot, told the control center to call police for help, though the facility superintendent said not to call for outside assistance, records show. Eventually, five police agencies and the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction came to help quell the disturbance.

After about 12 hours, officers in riot gear and armed with pepper spray marshaled in a hallway, preparing to retake the school building. The sign above the doors in the school lobby tells teens: “Be the Best. Be Respectful.”

Surveillance cameras show state employees standing in a room, waiting for kids to come out of hiding in the ceiling at the end. Juveniles told investigators they climbed into the ceiling so they could access other rooms.

The damages and cleanup cost at least $265,000.

Three days after the disturbance, The Dispatch requested investigative reports and surveillance camera footage under Ohio’s public records law. The Ohio Department of Youth Services released the records Friday, though the chief inspector signed off on the investigation July 12.

OHIO DEPARTMENT OF YOUTH SERVICES An October 2022 riot at the Ohio Department of Youth Services’ Indian River Juvenile Correctional Facility in Massillon started when a new employee opened a cell door for a teen who asked for water. That triggered events that led to a 12-hour standoff and $265,000 in damages.