Guard taken hostage at SC maximum security prison

BISHOPVILLE, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina prison officials say an officer has been taken hostage by inmates at a maximum security prison in Lee County.

Corrections Department spokesman Clark Newsom said the incident began around 5 p.m. in a dorm at the Lee Correctional Institution, which houses nearly 1,800 inmates.

Newsom says authorities are still trying to figure out exactly what happened and get special units to the prison to try to diffuse the situation.

The incident has been contained to just one dorm, which houses about 100 inmates. The rest of the prison is on lockdown.

A guard was taken hostage for about six hours at the same prison in June.