UPDATE: Guards taken hostage by inmates at Delaware prison

James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna is currently locked down due to what the Delaware Department of Correction is calling an emergency situation. (Licensed under Creative Commons)

James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna is currently locked down due to what the Delaware Department of Correction is calling an emergency situation. (Licensed under Creative Commons)

Delaware prisons have been put on lockdown following an incident at the state’s maximum security facility.

Geoffrey Klopp, president of the Correctional Officers Association of Delaware, said he had been told by the Department of Correction commissioner that prison guards had been taken hostage at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna.

The facility was placed on lockdown, as were all prisons in the state per DOC policy.

DOC spokeswoman Jayme Gravell provided few details but described the situation as an isolated incident. Gravell says firefighters were called to the scene after reports of smoke, but they’re being held on standby.

  • WHYY thanks our sponsors — become a WHYY sponsor

WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.

Want a digest of WHYY’s programs, events & stories? Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Together we can reach 100% of WHYY’s fiscal year goal