Steven Woolfe, a European Parliament member who belongs to the U.K. Independence Party, was involved in a “violent” altercation on Thursday before collapsing unconscious and being rushed to a hospital, according to the institution’s leader, who opened a probe into the incident. Martin Schulz, president of the European Union assembly, said on Friday that the incident may have “judicial consequences” and that, beyond those, an EU Parliament advisory committee would as a “matter of urgency” assess whether the institution’s code of conduct was violated. Woolfe remains hospitalized in Strasbourg, France, Schulz said. “The reported facts are extremely serious,” Schulz said in an e-mailed statement. “Disrespectful and violent behavior does not have a place in the European Parliament.” He didn’t elaborate. The incident came a day after Woolfe announced his intention to stand in the leadership contest for UKIP, which helped persuade 52 percent of British voters in a June referendum to opt for leaving the 28-nation EU. The party has been seeking a new chief after longtime leader Nigel Farage resigned upon achieving his Brexit goal and Diane James stepped down from the job this month after 18 days. On Thursday, the UKIP press office sent an e-mailed statement in which Woolfe said he underwent a CT scan that showed he had no clot in the brain and he was feeling “brighter, happier and smiling as ever.” The statement said Woolfe suffered two “epileptic-like fits” at about 12:30 p.m. in the Parliament’s headquarters in Strasbourg and subsequent tests showed no bleeding on his brain. “I am sitting up, and said to be looking well,” Woolfe said in the statement on Thursday. “The only consequence at the moment is a bit of numbness on the left-hand side of my face.”