Three correctional officers were assaulted Sunday during a disturbance at a central Tennessee prison, with two hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said.
Meanwhile, in Nebraska three officers are recovering after being assaulted by inmates at a facility in Lincoln, state officials said.
In the Tennessee incident, one officer was briefly taken hostage during the incident around 4 p.m. Sunday in a housing unit involving 16 inmates at the Turney Center Industrial Complex in Only, about 60 miles east of Nashville, according to Alison Randgaard, a Tennessee State Department of Correction spokeswoman.
The injured officers were airlifted to a local hospital, according to Randgaard. Two were listed in critical condition Sunday night and the third officer was in stable condition, a Vanderbilt University Medical Center spokesperson said.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with these officers,” state correction Commissioner Tony Parker said in a news release.
The disturbance lasted about three hours, Randgaard said. She said it was an isolated incident.
The facility was on lockdown Sunday night while authorities investigated the incident, officials said.
The Turney complex houses 1,500 inmates, most of them in medium-security custody.
The inmates involved in the disturbance will be moved to a maximum-security facility, officials said.
Nebraska incident
In the Nebraska incident, the state Department of Correctional Services said three prison officers were assaulted by inmates at the Diagnostic and Evaluation Center in Lincoln Friday night.
Two of the staff members were treated for non-serious injuries at the hospital and the third did not seek treatment, it said on Facebook. No inmates were reported to be seriously injured.
A fire was also started during the incident at a housing unit of the complex, with 16 of the 39 inmates housed there directly involved in the disturbance, the department said. It said an internal review would be carried out into the incident, which lasted approximately two hours.
