LITTLE ROCK — An inmate at a state prison near Calico Rock remained at a hospital Tuesday after being shot the day before by a guard who said the inmate lunged at him, a prison spokesman said.

Joseph Henry, 39, was in stable condition and is expected to recover from his injuries, Department of Correction spokesman Dina Tyler said.

Tyler said Henry was among a crew of 21 inmates of the North Central Unit who were using sling blades to cut grass Monday morning when the guard, a sergeant who was on horseback,pulled Henry out of the line for failing to keep up.

When two other officers arrived to take Henry back to prison, Henry began struggling and lunged at the sergeant on horseback, Tyler said. She said Henry was unarmed and did not have a sling blade at that time.

“The sergeant is moving his horse backwards, telling [Henry] to stop,” Tyler said. “Finally, he’s saying, ‘Stop or I’m going to have to shoot you.’”

Tyler said the sergeant backed away as far as he could, going up a hill that has a pit on top of it. As Henry lunged, the sergeant shot him with his pistol in the right shoulder below the collarbone, Tyler said.

She added that all inmates are instructed not to step within 10 feet of an officer on horseback.

Henry arrived at the prison most recently in December 2009 as a parole violator, Tyler said. He was sentenced in March 2011 in Benton County Circuit Courtto 21 1/2 years for two counts of rape.

She said that previously Henry served about five years on a conviction fromBenton County for seconddegree battery and terroristic threatening.

Since returning to prison, she said, Henry has been disciplined several times for rule violations, including assault, battery and refusing to follow orders.

The last time a state prison guard shot an inmate was Feb. 7, 1997, when prison officials said an officer on a tower at the Cummins Unit in Lincoln County shot Leon Mask as Mask attempted to escape by scaling a fence.

Mask, 42, who is serving a sentence of life in prison without parole for capital murder, kidnapping and robbery convictions out of Union County, is now housed at the Tucker Maximum Security Unit in Jefferson County.

Tyler said the Arkansas State Police is investigating Henry’s shooting. The Correction Department is also investigating whether its policies were followed, she said.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 12/21/2011