June 14, 2019
The Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution at Houtzdale was placed on a limited lockdown Friday after an inmate at the prison allegedly assaulted a correctional officer, state officials said.
Authorities said the incident occurred Thursday night in the housing unit pod of the medium-security prison. The corrections officers was said to be seriously injured by an inmate and required emergency medical attention outside the institution.
Officials did not reveal what may have led to the physical altercation.
The officer was listed in stable condition, but no additional information was available.
"Due to confidentiality, we are unable to provide any further medical information about the officer," the prison said in a statement. "There were no other inmates or staff involved in the assault and no one else was injured. The inmate was transferred to another institution."
The limited lockdown will keep the housing unit pod closed amid an ongoing investigation of the incident. As a result, visiting and telephone privileges will be suspended while the lockdown remains in effect.
"SCI Houtzdale and the Department of Corrections take assaults seriously and will work to determine how it happened and how we can work to prevent incidents such as this in the future," officials said.
