Three correctional officers were assaulted Sunday during a disturbance at a central Tennessee prison, authorities said.
One officer was briefly taken hostage during the incident around 4 p.m. 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 mostly medium-security inmates.
The inmates involved in the disturbance will be moved to a maximum-security facility, officials said.
