GRAFTON, Ohio — More than a dozen people were injured Tuesday evening after a lightning strike at the Grafton Reintegration Center just before 5:30 p.m.
A steady stream of ambulances could be seen lined up and leaving the prison on Avon Belden Road throughout Tuesday evening.
According to a spokesperson from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, the lightning hit as incarcerated individuals were returning from dinner.
There was no explanation as to why the victims were outside, with storms possible in the area, and no news conference was scheduled to take place in Grafton following what emergency dispatchers declared a mass casualty incident at the prison.
Ambulances were called to the prison from departments in Lorain, Cuyahoga and Medina counties.
The center initially reported that eight people were injured, but later sent an update saying 16 inmates were injured.
All inmates were transported to an outside hospital for treatment.
One of them had to be flown by helicopter to a hospital for treatment.
As of Thursday morning, seven remained in the hospital. Six of the inmates are in stable condition, and one is in serious condition.
Nine of the inmates have been released from the hospital back to the facility.
In a statement, ODRC said no deaths have been reported at this time.
The mother of an inmate who witnessed the incident spoke to News 5 by phone Wednesday.
She described it as a "scary situation" and said her son was among a large group held in the dining hall when storms rolled into the area on Tuesday evening. He told her the men were eventually allowed to return to their dorms and were walking back across the outdoor campus when he heard two cracks of lightning.
He said he helped one person who appeared to be bleeding from his head and told his mother he saw at least two men receiving CPR.
The mother said she wants to know why the inmates were allowed to be outside during active lightning and why there were no alternative options, such as a shuttle bus, to safely return to their dorms.
News 5 posed the questions to a spokesperson from the ODRC. There was no response as of late Friday afternoon.
The incident wasn't the only time the prison complex had been impacted by severe weather.
In 2024, News 5 spoke to fire investigators when they were working to determine if severe weather led to a partially collapsed roof and fire at a building on the prison outskirts.
At that time, the ODRC said the building was used as storage, and no injuries were reported.
