4 California prison guards injured in inmate attack

Four California correctional officers were injured while subduing an inmate who pulled a weapon on them at Kern Valley State Prison over the weekend, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said.

The Saturday incident is being investigated as attempted murder, the department said in a statement Monday.

The inmate, identified as Elrader Browning, 39, was about to be subjected to a body search when he produced the weapon and began stabbing at the staff, according to the statement. Guards used physical force to disarm him.

One officer suffered a puncture wound to the face and a laceration on his neck. A second officer suffered a fractured wrist. A third officer had a sprained knee, and a fourth suffered a sprained wrist.

All were treated at a hospital and released, the department said.

Browning was sent to prison from Los Angeles County in 2001 to serve a 41-year sentence, with the possibility of parole, for attempted second-degree murder and assault with a firearm. While in prison, he was convicted in 2003 of attempted second-degree murder.