Lincoln County Jail officers were airing out the booking room ofthe jail this morning after using pepper spray on a mental patient,Warden Ralph Boone said.

The gassing became necessary, he said, when the patient becameuncontrollable.

“It seems to have affected everyone but her,” he said laterwhile jailers in charge of booking stood outside the jail’s sallyport.

Boone said such incidents would not be necessary if the jailwere not used to house mental patients awaiting rooms at statefacilities.