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

The incident Saturday 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 and they used physical force to disarm him, the statement said.

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 possibility of parole, for attempted second-degree murder and assault with a firearm. In 2003 he was convicted of attempted second-degree murder by a prisoner in Del Norte County.