Story highlights Inmates were found dead at the South Carolina maximum security prison

Kirkland Correctional Institution has history of violent incidents

(CNN) Four inmates were found dead at a South Carolina prison, a spokesperson for the Department of Corrections said.

Guards found the four men at 10:35 a.m. in a dorm at Kirkland Correctional Institution, a state maximum security site outside Columbia that holds approximately 15,000 offenders, said Sommer Sharpe.

"I have asked the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to lead this investigation," state prisons chief Bryan Stirling said in a statement.

The deaths "don't appear to be natural," Richland County Coroner Gary Watts told CNN affiliate WIS.

Authorities did not provide details about how the inmates died but said their autopsies are planned for Saturday.

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