Updated: ACI Locked Down after Fight, Seven COs Hospitalized

Seven correctional officers were injured and sent to the hospital and the Adult Correctional Institution is in lockdown after a fight inside maximum security around 3 p.m.

Department of Corrections Director A.T. Wall said that the fight began after an inmate was carrying an "unauthorized item," which was not a weapon, and refused to hand it over to a pair of COs. The COs then began to handcuff the inmate, who resisted.

At that point, about six other inmates in the cell block approached and began fighting with the officers. The situation was contained a few minutes later as additional staff arrived to regain control.

The injured COs were transported to the hospital for evaluation and none of the injuries appear to be life threatening.

Six inmates are being held in holding cells as a result of their involvement in the fight, Wall said, and their injuries do not appear to be life threatening. They are also being medically evaluated.

The fight broke out in a cell block that contains 99 inmates. Staff used "less than lethal weapons to resolve the incident," Wall said, and it does not appear that any inmates were using any weapons.

The ACI's investigative staff is working alongside the State Police "to get to the cause of the episode," Wall said, and the entire facility is in lockdown. That means visits are cancelled and inmates will be fed in their cells.

"I want to emphasize that this incident occurred in one cell block of maximum security," Wall said. "I commend our staff. While [such incidents] are not routine in a correctional institution, it is not extraordinary. It is part and parcel of running a prison. Our staff responded very well and effectively."

"The public is safe and the institution is secure."