UPDATE: 58 injured, 8 in hospital after 200-inmate riot at Soledad's CTF prison

A prison riot at Correctional Training Facility (CTF) in Soledad sent eight inmates to local hospitals Wednesday morning, officials say.  

Fifty more suffered minor injuries.   

Just after 11 a.m., around 200 inmates began fighting in the prison's Facility C recreation yard, according to Ike Dodson, public information officer for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The agency manages the state prison system.

Guards ordered the rioters to stop then fired tear gas, nonlethal weapons and nine rifle rounds from a Ruger Mini-14 to end the incident. One group of inmates stopped, but a second group continued for about 12 minutes, Dodson said.

Eight inmates were taken to local hospitals to be treated for stab wounds, cuts and bruises to the head, neck and torso areas among other injuries.

Dodson said their conditions are not life threatening. 

Approximately 50 more reported minor injuries were being treated on-site by medical staff.

Lt. Edward Brown, public information officer at nearby Salinas Valley State Prison, said SVSP staff responded as well.

No staff was injured in the riot, Dodson said.

Four inmate-made weapons were found and CTF's Investigative Services Unit is investigating what caused the riot, Dodson said. A deadly force review board will also review the incident.

Movement at Facility C, a medium-custody general population facility, was limited as a result of the ongoing investigation, Dodson said.

CTF currently has more than 5,400 inmates as of Aug. 7, according to CDCR figures.

Natividad Chief Medical Officer Dr. Craig Walls said Wednesday afternoon six people from CTF were brought in to the Salinas hospital with injuries, but there was no immediate information available on the patients' current conditions or the extent of their injuries. The hospital was set up for triage, an emergency protocol for disaster response.

Two other people were taken to Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital, said Karina Rusk, director of marketing and public relations for the hospital. It was unclear Wednesday afternoon where the eighth hospitalized inmate had been taken.

Less than three weeks ago, an inmate stabbed a guard at CTF.

On July 26, Michael Ellison, 36, stabbed a correctional officer multiple times in the face and body with an inmate-made weapon, Lt. Carlos Espinoza said. 

Officers used physical force and pepper spray to stop Ellison. The officer attacked suffered several cuts to the forehead, left hand, and thigh, Espinoza said. The officer is expected to make a full recovery.

In February, CTF also saw protests after activists alleged guards there staged fights between inmates to justify lockdowns, which prison staff flatly denied.

While Salinas Valley State Prison has not taken any measures as a result of the CTF incident, Brown said their program has been modified because of staff sent to help with Wednesday's riot.

Salinas Valley State Prison has had at least two riots this summer.

This article was amended to correct the number of people who were treated at Natividad. 

Contact reporter Eduardo Cuevas at ecuevas@thecalifornian.com or 831-269-9363. To support this kind of work, please subscribe.