The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office confirmed that juvenile detention residents threatened riots at the St. Johns County Youth Academy Saturday afternoon.
SJCSO said the were called by the private, high risk residential facility for assistance Saturday afternoon.
A representative from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice sent Action News Jax the following statement Saturday night:
"The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) takes the safety and security of youth in our custody as our top priority. Today, the contracted provider for St. Johns Youth Academy notified DJJ of a disturbance at the facility. The Department appreciates the quick response of law enforcement to resolve this incident, and we are currently investigating this matter. Should it become apparent that a failure to follow policy and procedures contributed to this incident, staff will be held fully accountable for their actions."
Action News Jax reporter Courtney Cole called the facility twice Saturday to talk to the director to see if the lock down previously put in place had been lifted, but the person wasn't able to answer our questions.
On another call to the facility, the employee hung up during the call.
This is a developing story. Refresh this page, follow @ActionNewsJax on Twitter and watch Action News Jax on FOX30 at 10 and CBS47 at 11 for the latest.
Riots threatened at St. Augustine youth detention facility, deputies say. @CourtneyANJax is headed to the scene, working to learn more information. UPDATES: https://t.co/kWCqP4pCug pic.twitter.com/SMKBy7jIUC
— ActionNewsJax (@ActionNewsJax) June 23, 2018
#RIGHTNOW —SJCSO deputies are at the St Johns Youth Academy St. Augustine, assisting with unruly youth. SJCSO says they were called by the private, high risk residential facility for assistance. @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/M72aGL5M0g
— Courtney Cole (@CourtneyANJax) June 24, 2018
Because this is a private facility, the SJCSO is unable to go into detail about the unruly behavior, except to say the youth inside did not want to go back into their assigned quarters. I’m working to get in contact with a director/spokesperson for the facility. @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/ySu25N3lvJ
— Courtney Cole (@CourtneyANJax) June 24, 2018
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