Two inmates involved in the hostage-taking of a pair of guards at a maximum security Arkansas prison Friday afternoon have been treated at an area hospital and returned to state incarceration, officials said.
A spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Correction said the two inmates, whose names were not released, were returned to a Department of Correction facility Saturday.
The inmates had been taken to a nearby hospital for "evaluation and treatment of non-life threatening injuries" after authorities discharged "less than lethal" and "lethal" munitions while responding to the hostage situation at the Maximum Security Unit in Tucker, spokesman Solomon Graves said in an email Monday.
Asked to clarify, Graves confirmed that during the response a corrections officer filed a single shot, which did not strike anyone. Graves also said it was not a warning shot.
The prison said the guards were taken hostage around 4:30 p.m. and that they were released about two-and-a-half hours later "following a planned use of force by the Department's Emergency Response Team."
In a call to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newsroom, a person who identified himself as an inmate at the prison said inmates had broken out of their cell or cells and taken two officers hostage. The call came in around 6:15 p.m., before prison officials released the statement announcing what had happened.
The two guards were said to have suffered minor lacerations, for which they also received treatment at a nearby hospital.
Arkansas State Police are investigating the hostage-taking, and the prisons system is also conducting an internal probe. Graves said a determination on charges would be made after the police investigative file is sent to the prosecuting attorney for review.
Reporters Ryan Tarinelli and John Moritz contributed to this story.