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Two employees injured in fight at King County juvenile facility

Two staff members at Echo Glen Children's Center were taken to the hospital after intervening in fight between five juveniles.

Editor’s Note: The video above is a KING 5 investigation about a different Washington juvenile facility originally published in February 2019.

Two employees were injured, and five juveniles are under investigation after a large fight broke out at Echo Glen Children’s Center in Snoqualmie, Washington.

Washington Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) spokesperson Chris Wright said the incident occurred on Saturday at the DSHS facility that houses juvenile male and female offenders.

“One of them came out swinging,” said Wright, of the two juveniles that allegedly started the fight.

Wright said the two employees who intervened were seriously injured enough that they were taken to the hospital. One worker required stitches to the face. Both employees were treated and released.

The fight occurred in the Toutle cottage at Echo Glen, one of several residences in the complex near the intersection of Interstate 90 and Highway 18. 

Wright said Snoqualmie police and the King County Sheriff’s Office are investigating.

Last month, the KING 5 Investigators exposed DSHS records showing many assaults at the state maximum security facility for older, male offenders – the Green Hill School in Lewis County.

Records show that 69 assaults – most of them on Green Hill staff members – were reported to Chehalis police during a two-year period. An additional 400 assaults during that same period were not reported to police, according to records KING 5 received through a public disclosure request.

Unlike Green Hill, where the resident population has been declining, the number of offenders at Echo Glen has been increasing, according to Wright.

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