Black-Latino Jail Fight in Castaic Leaves 29 Hurt : Penal system: In another incident, four inmates are injured by debris after a deputy’s shotgun discharges.

A melee between black and Latino inmates at the Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho in Castaic injured 29 men before deputies in riot gear were able to quell the violence, authorities said Monday.

The fight, apparently caused by racial tension between the inmates, broke out about 10:30 p.m. Sunday in a 95-man dormitory and prompted a four-hour lock-down of all 1,194 inmates in the jail’s North Facility, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Larry Mead said.

All 29 of the Latino inmates involved in the fight were injured, and 22 were treated at the jail’s medical center.

Seven inmates were treated at San Fernando Community Hospital and transferred to Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles. Two inmates--David Moreno, 21, and Martin Lara, 25--were treated for broken bones.

None of the 11 black inmates complained of injuries, and no deputies were hurt.

Mead said all 40 inmates involved have been transferred to other facilities around Los Angeles County.

In an unrelated incident Monday, four inmates were slightly injured by falling debris when a deputy accidentally fired his shotgun about 10 a.m.

The unidentified deputy, a two-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department, was escorting 152 maximum-security inmates back to their dormitories in the East Facility after a recreation period when his 12-gauge shotgun discharged, Deputy Rich Erickson said.

The deputy was outside a chain-link fence when the gun fired and pellets from the blast ripped through a screen window and hit the interior ceiling of the facility, Erickson said.

Bits of plaster and lead pellets rained down on five inmates and four were treated at the jail’s medical center for minor cuts.