UPDATE: Death confirmed in altercation at West TN prison
UPDATE (8/14/25): TDOC shared the following: “We can confirm an inmate death at the facility on Tuesday following an altercation among several inmates.” According to TDOC, no staff members were injured and an investigation is ongoing.
UPDATE (1:58 p.m.): According to Amy Garner with West Tennessee Healthcare, the Dyersburg hospital is no longer on lockdown. She shares that “due to an incident at the prison in Tiptonville, six prisoners were transported to Dyersburg Hospital for stabilizing treatment and/or transfer to other facilities. Due to compliance with federal privacy laws, we cannot offer any additional information at this time.”
TIPTONVILLE, Tenn. — Information is unfolding about a situation at a local prison.
Just before 10 a.m. on Tuesday, the Dyersburg Police Department stated on social media that a large police presence was at West Tennessee Healthcare due to an inmate-related incident at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville. The department shared that it involved inmates and that the situation is “under control.”
We’ve received various unconfirmed reports that multiple individuals were injured.
Later Tuesday morning, our crews observed a large police presence at West Tennessee Healthcare Dyersburg Hospital, around 30 miles south from the prison. Hospital staff told our crew that their facility was on lockdown.
We have reached out to the Tennessee Department of Corrections for more information and a statement, but have not heard back from them. We also reached out to Northwest Correctional Complex Warden Stanton Heidel, but we were unable to reach him.
We’ll continue to follow this situation throughout the day. Stay with us on-air and online as further coverage is expected.
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