2017-02-01

Inmates in a Delaware maximum security prison have taken over a building and held correctional officers hostages, NY Daily News reports.

All prisons in Delaware are under lockdown in response.

According to Delaware Department of Corrections statistics, the prison houses 2,500 people.

The situation is unfolding at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna according to state lawmaker William Carson.

“We’re hearing that three to five correctional officers have been taken hostage and the inmates have control of the building,” President of the Correctional Officers Association of Delaware Geoff Klopp told Delaware State News.

A state corrections officer called the situation an “isolated incident,” but state protocol requires all prisons in the state should be put on lockdown if there’s a hostage crisis in any of them as a precaution.

(image via ABC 6 screengrab)

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