A prisoner at North Branch Correctional Institution in Cumberland stabbed two correctional officers, seriously wounding them, on Friday morning, according to the state corrections department.

The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services provided only basic details about the stabbing, which it is still investigating. The department said that it occurred around 11:18 a.m. and that the two officers “sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries and were transported to a nearby hospital for treatment.”

“Additional responding staff members were also evaluated for minor injuries,” said Lowell Melser, a corrections department spokesperson. “The suspect did not receive any serious injuries and is being questioned by investigators.”

The stabbing comes as the correctional officers union, AFSCME Council 3, continues a statewide tour calling attention to staffing shortages and other security concerns at state-run prisons. Stuart Katzenberg, the union’s director of collective bargaining and growth, said that one of the officers was so badly wounded he had to be flown to Morgantown, West Virginia, for treatment.

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Katzenberg said the union is aware of other recent staff assaults at the facility, but the state corrections department had not confirmed any details as of Friday evening.

“This is completely unacceptable and at a crisis level,” Katzenberg said. “They remain understaffed, under-supported. How much blood has to be shed for there to be more extreme action to protect our members and the other people in the state’s care?”