Massachusetts Correctional Institution – Shirley

MCI - Shirley

Location	Shirley, MA
Security class	Level 4/3
Capacity	969
Population	1423
Opened	1991 (1991)
Managed by	Massachusetts Department of Correction
Director	Superintendent Kelly Ryan

Massachusetts Correctional Institution – Shirley is a medium-security state prison in Shirley, Massachusetts. The facility also contains a minimum security section which houses less dangerous prisoners. MCI-Shirley maintains 13 inmate housing units, a 28 bed full service hospital unit, a 59 bed segregation unit, gym, recreation areas, school, industries, laundry, vocational area, and food services/programs. This facility is under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Department of Correction. It is also directly to the north of the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center.

History

MCI Shirley was previously a Shaker colony which was founded by the Wilde family in the 1700s. It was visited by the founder Sister Ann Lee. As the members of the order in the colony declined it at the end of the 19th century was decided that it was no longer viable. The religious order consolidated the remaining members into other colonies and sold the property in 1903. The purchaser was the Commonwealth of Massachusetts which then established it as a reform school. Several of the Shaker buildings are still standing and tours can be arranged.

1995 Riot

On August 24, 1995 fighting broke out between inmates in the dining hall. At least 300 prisoners overturned tables and broke windows before moving into the central prison yard and nearby buildings, where they smashed equipment and torched rooms using cigarette lighters. The Dept. of Correction's Tactical Response Team (TRT) was brought in to quell the disturbance. 42 inmates involved in the riot were transferred to maximum security facilities. The riot caused over $2 million in damage.

Other Incidences

In 1994, a convicted murderer who was held in minimum security shot a Shirley police officer in the chest when the stolen vehicle he was driving was stopped. In 1985, a state trooper shot an escaped minimum-security prisoner during a traffic stop on Route 2. Among other escapees from Shirley's minimum-security prison were the leader of a street gang who terrorized Southeast Asian merchants and a bank robber who was caught nearly a decade after his escape by a woman who recognized him from an episode of "Unsolved Mysteries." In April 2011, Tamik Kirland escaped and went on to shoot a state trooper and Springfield police officer before being shot multiple times by police.

Notable inmates

• Thomas Junta: 2002-released in 2009
• John Geoghan: Defrocked Priest (Catholic Church Sex Abuse Scandal). Sentenced January 18, 2002 - Murdered in Souza-Baranowski August 24, 2003.
• Rod Matthews: convicted in 1988 for the murder of Shaun Ouillette.
• Neil Entwistle: convicted in 2007 for the double murder of his wife and baby daughter