Official: Guard taken hostage at SC prison

BISHOPVILLE, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina Department of Corrections spokesman says a guard has been taken hostage at a maximum security prison in Bishopville.

Communications Director Clark Newsom said a nurse escorted by a guard was passing out medication in the Sumter unit of Lee Correctional Institute around 9 p.m. Tuesday when a group of inmates overpowered the guard. He didn’t know how many inmates were involved in the incident but that unit houses as many as 130 inmates.

Newsom said the nurse escaped. He said the guard may have been carrying either Mace or a baton, but no firearms.

Newsom said late Tuesday that authorities were in ongoing negotiations with the inmates in hopes of resolving the situation.

It wasn’t immediately known if the inmates had made any demands.