ONTARIO — Eight employees of the Snake River Correctional Institution were injured Saturday morning in assaults involving one inmate, the state Corrections Department said in a news release.

The agency said one “staff member was assaulted by an inmate” at about 10:30 a.m. but didn’t identify the corrections officer or the inmate. The assault occurred in a corridor in the one of the complexes at the prison, north of Ontario.

“Security staff responded to the assault and seven additional staff were taken to the hospital for evaluation” for minor injuries. All seven were corrections officers.

All eight employees had been treated and released by Saturday night.

The inmate was moved to a segregation unit at the prison, the state’s largest. As of Oct. 1, the prison housed 2,804. Corrections Department records show 2,296 were serving sentence for person crimes.

After the assault, the prison was put on lockdown, with all inmates in their cells. Prison officials said they would evaluate security issues but expected the lockdown to be lifted in time for normal visiting on Sunday.

Meantime, the Oregon State Police is investigating the assault.

The Malheur Enterprise