DOVER, Del. - Delaware prisons have been put on lockdown following a reported hostage taking at the state's maximum security facility.

The Correctional Officers Association of Delaware said in an email on Saturday that guards at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center were removing dinner trays when an inmate threatened an officer and squirted an unknown liquid on the officer's upper torso and arm.

The email says about two dozen inmates had been moved to a higher security area earlier that day and refused to eat dinner.

Geoffrey Klopp, president of the Correctional Officers Association of Delaware, said Wednesday he had been told by the Department of Correction commissioner that prison guards had been taken hostage.

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.

A DOC spokeswoman said only that an emergency situation was reported at the Smyrna prison late Wednesday morning. The facility was placed on lockdown, as were all prisons in the state per DOC policy. Spokeswoman Jayme Gravell provided few details but described the situation as an isolated incident, adding that there was no threat to the public.

Gravell said firefighters were called to the scene after reports of smoke and were being held on standby.